Elizabeth's Thoughts
by DaemonicKitten
Summary: Basically a small series of drabbles on Elizabeth's thoughts on one John Sheppard. They may be out of order, and likely won't be related to each other. My first real posted attempt at SGA fictions. Small hints of John/Elizabeth, all from Elizabeth's POV.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Stargate Atlantis, or any of the characters, or I could guarantee the show would go on forever, and there'd be TONS of shirtless or towel-clad boys in there! Plus Elisabeth would have stayed, as would Carson!

**Note** : I was reading John/Rodney fictions on another site when some things just hit me out of nowhere. Just random drabbles, if you will. I'm not going to make these John/Rodney, since I'm a huge fan of Elisabeth... Ok, I'm a huge fan of John/OC, but in the instance of these drabbles, there's likely going to be John/Elisabeth romance hints or at least friendship hints.

Some of these chapters will be like a diary, and some will recount 'missions', but most will be random musings of Elisabeth's at one point or another.

**Summary** : Just simple drabbles based on John, and little things about him that Elisabeth notices. The first chapter, obviously, deals with sunglasses. Read more to find out.

**Legend** :

"Talking"

_Thinking_

**Flashback/Vision/Memory**

**(Scene/POV/Time Changes)**

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**(Elisabeth's POV)**

It's wrong, I know, to have any sort of romantic or lustful feelings for an officer under my command. I've seen it happen on many occasions, and even berated people for it, only to feel guilty that I harbor these feelings myself.

_The sunglasses._

The first time I noticed it was when he saved me from the Genii soldier threatening to kill me. The shot wasn't a foot away from me, I had been shocked. I'd sworn he had to have hit me, but remarkably, he didn't. He saved me. The worried look in his eyes, mixed with an apparent sense of relief, served to warm me, even though the rain had chilled me.

"Dr. Weir, are you alright?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I offered a small smile and nod to Major Evan Lorne, who was leading the team who currently, were escorting me to a treaty. Looking around, we found ourselves in a vast field, as usual. The field was clear, no signs of Wraith or any hostile forces, but it was manditory that I be escorted. You never knew when these things would go south.

_Those damn sunglasses._

"We'll be making contact with Colonel Sheppard's team soon."

We were due to meet with them in the village, where they'd take over my escort and protection. It was one thing I often questioned. Out of all the teams, John always insisted his team watch over me personally, but for these little trips to and from the gate itself. It made my trying to ignore the way I felt around him, nearly impossible. Was it a personal thing? Or did he just not trust anyone else with my safe transfer?

And true to that, soon we were entering the forest, and the Colonel's team walked out from behind a group of trees. With a small, quiet greeting and few exchanged words, Lorne and his team remained in position there as John turned to lead the way further into the forest.

_Wearing those damn sunglasses._

They were a pain, you know? I liked being able to tell how people felt around me. Usually, without his sunglasses, he could kind of hide his feelings, but not that well. With them, he seemed a lot more cocky, probably knowing I couldn't read him, and feeding off that. Yes, it most certainly was a pain.

"They wanted to talk with you about setting up trade negotiations." Rodney put in, walking beside me. "Apparently, they saw Colonel Sheppard as an, um..." He grinned a little. "Middle man, of sorts."

John stopped cold and slowly turned around. Wearing those sunglasses, and his Atlantis uniform, complete with P90 and thigh holster, he was the epitome of danger. Especially with that frown on his face.

Still, I had to say it.

"Well, he is." John's face turned in my direction, and behind his sunglasses, I caught one eyebrow sliding up almost elegantly. The slight 5 o'clock shadow and his unruly hair gave him a more rugged look than usual, one he pulled off all too well, especially when he towered over me, a couple of inches taller. I bit my lip a moment before forcing a grin and sauntering past him. Yes, I said sauntering. "I mean, I'm the one in charge, so naturally John's the middle man." I stated flippiantly as I walked to the head of the group.

"Hey!"

His voice wasn't as gruff as you'd expect, from a man that looked like him. It was softer, lighter, and it was filled with emotion. It was...surprising and...kind of nice. The current sulky tone in it made me have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

"You know she's right, Sheppard." Ronon put in, a grin easily heard in his voice.

"Yeah, well... Doesn't mean you have to rub it in!" His tone was whiney, not at all dangerous, like someone would initially expect. But, I'd known him for some time, and we've been through a lot, I knew he could be dangerous sounding when he wanted to. "And you..." I felt a strong hand grab my arm.

Looking up, startled, I stared at him with a raised eyebrow, once again cursing those sunglasses as his expression was fully masked.

"Stay behind me." He stated in a surprisingly quiet voice as he let go and stepped in front of me.

I could only blink in surprise. He never ceased to get me, always pulling the opposite of what I expected. Instead, I watched as he walked off ahead, following behind him. Suddenly, I stopped cold and blinked in shock as a particularly bright beam of sunlight hit me square in the face. "Ow!" Covering my eyes, I quickly berated myself for failing to notice how dark the forest was to the bright sun.

"Elisabeth, you ok?"

I nodded, though my eyes stung and I didn't dare open them at the moment. I heard John sigh, heard the rustle of cloth and him fumbling with his P90, then felt something warm slide over the sides of my face. Small, warm, and feeling vaguely metal. Carefully opening my eyes, I almost jumped to find the world a lot darker than it had been. It took me a moment to realize I was wearing sunglasses.

_His sunglasses._

Looking up at him, I could see he was concerned but also a little uncomfortable without them. He gave me a grin, even as he squinted against the invading light, and took my hand, helping me along until we were in the dark of the forest again.

_I like him better without his sunglasses._ I thought, struggling not to smile. I loved being able to see his hazel eyes. It was funny, really. Upon first meeting him, I thought his eyes were a dark blue. Then, I threw that idea away, thinking they were green. I'd never gotten a good look. Then, again, I thought I'd made a mistake and they were brown. It took a close moment to realize they were many colors, but listed in his profile as hazel. _Yes, I much prefer no sunglasses._

I bit my lip and grinned a little at his back, glad that the others were behind me and wouldn't see me. The rest of the trip, I feigned discussing the trade negotiations with Rodney, trying to ignore when John would glance at me. Some time I wondered if he wanted his sunglasses back, others I wondered what the strange, warmer look on his face was...

But in reality, I spent the trip to the village forming a plan to steal his sunglasses for myself.

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Ok, my first attempt at a little John/Elisabeth drabble. It's Sunglasses was supposed to be the theme, I don't know how it came out. Hope you liked it.

And I don't know if anyone's done these sort of drabble things, so... Let me know if it seems I've copied anyone. Basically, they will range from 'Beard', to 'Eyes', 'Fear', 'Scars' and more. Those are the titles and what the stories will, hopefully, be focusing on.

Please R+R and let me know.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	2. Eyes

Most, if not all, of these one-shots will be in Elisabeth's POV, in case I ever forget to put it in a chapter.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Oh thank you for the message. I didn't realize. I thought I read someplace his eyes were hazel. O.o I already had this written, before I got your email, and I tried to change it a little, to turn the effect more towards green (if that makes any sense). I hope you don't mind. I'll try to keep an eye (no pun intended) out for my mentions of it in the future, and change any that I find to green. Thank you :) And I'm glad you like it. :)

And it's no offence that you don't like John/OC, I know a lot of people that don't like OCs because they've been done horribly (no ofence to other writers). I like the idea as a challenge, and for difference/variation, but as far as John/Teyla or John/Elisabeth, I have to admit I'm more for John/Elisabeth.

**Tinypennie** - I'm glad you loved it. :) I have at least 4 more chapters, and I'm still thinking through the episodes for more themes.

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_Oh wow, those eyes! It's like they can see into your very soul, and if they wanted to, melt it._

I've seen so many people who had eyes with varying descriptions. Some were bedroom eyes, sleepy, happy, angry... There are so many words to describe John's eyes. However, when I could go on and write a whole list of different words, along with times I found his eyes seemed to redefine them, the one that stuck out the most was 'intense'.

When we first met, I think the prospect of coming to Atlantis through a wormhole made more of an impact than anyone he spoke to. His eyes locked on mine, but they were distracted, clearly. Almost glazed as he blurted out an automatic greeting, to be polite.

It was alright, though. I could easily understand his reaction. At least he got my name right! Some marine by the name of Emerson called me Daniel when I greeted him. Dr. Jackson couldn't help his grin when I explained that later, and General O'Neill had an nice laugh.

_But his eyes..._

They were the first thing I noticed about Major John Sheppard. He was laid back, freaked out that the chair had responded to him. I hadn't had a good look before, but at that time, I was struck by all the colors in his eyes. Brown, gold, mostly green, even a little blue. Sure, his profile listed them as green, but I don't think that's quite right. I mean, they're not just _intense_, I've seen them change color with his moods!

And no, I'm not talking about a living, breathing mood ring. Although it can seem kind of similar

If he was angry, the brown and gold seemed to pick up and darken, and his pupils sometimes seemed to take over all other colors, making his eyes seem black with a thin ring of color around them. When he was happy and carefree, sometimes the colors varied from blue or green. When he was sick or feverish, they seemed more green, almost like they glowed with an inner light.

_It does sound odd. It's just so strange. _

They were haunting and enchanting... Whenever I saw him grinning at some girl, be it a marine, an alien or ancient, Teyla, or some scientist... I always wondered what it would be like, to be the sole center of his attention. Sure, if he's reporting to me, I'm the center of his attention then, but have you ever looked into his eyes when he's making a report?

_He's all business. His expression's so grim and he's obviously in a hurry to get it all over with._

He looks gone off into his own world. I could tell him Atlantis is overrun by Wraith, and by his expression, he wouldn't hear me. He also pays attention to me when I'm in danger, but then it's all worry.

"Control room to Dr. Weir."

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I tapped my ear piece, feeling my business persona come back online. "This is Dr. Weir."

"Colonel Sheppard's team has returned ahead of schedule...without Colonel Sheppard, ma'am."

I felt my heart skip a beat before racing wildly in my chest. "What? Where is he?"

"They don't know, ma'am."

Frowning deeply, I got up and closed my diary, heading out of my room in my track pants and t-shirt, not caring I wasn't in uniform. "I'm on my way, and if they're able, I want to be debriefed, right away."

"They're able ma'am, and on their way to the briefing room."

"Thank you Chuck." Sighing quietly after turning my ear piece off, I ran to the nearest teleporter and teleported across Atlantis before rushing on. _Damn it, John!_

An image of his face crossed my mind, and I felt an icy cold stab of fear run through me.

_We've been through too much for it to end like this. I'm _not_ about to lose you!_

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Ok, wanted a different ending to this one, and I'm going to make a chapter on 'Fears' relating to it in a sense. Maybe a very faint relating to it? Hm...

Hope you like it.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	3. Grin

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - I like to be as correct as I can in my facts, and it was no problem. I don't always want to end it with them just talking or something, so there's many more chapters to come with varying endings. I'm glad you liked the eyes, I noticed that about his character, so I wanted to put a play on it.

Oh, and I'm not putting the chapters in any particular order. Here's a list of the following titles/themes...

Thighs ;)

Lanky

Lazy

Kind

Smartass

Warm

Hands (Nothing dirty! lol!)

Scars

Beard

Fear

Bravery

and, Hair...

I am working on more as we speak, too.

'Thighs' might be a misnamer, it deals more with his thigh _holster_, but... (Shrugs)

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There he was again, John Sheppard grinning at yet another girl on the base. Of course, she was grinning right back, already smitten with him. Honestly, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't blame her.

Here I am, stuck in my office with reports to finish, and unable to focus as he keeps wandering by, hitting on one person or another. Yeah,ok, I'll admit I could be wrong. He might only be hitting on _half_ of them.

_Hey, he's not known as Atlantis' 'Kirk' for no reason._

First there was Teyla, who seemed drawn more to him than any of the others. It helped he was the dashing hero, who mounted a huge rescue to get her and her people back again, after some left over Wraith captured them.

_Wasn't there a betting pool for when John would ask Teyla out?_

He smiled and laughed before waving and turning towards my door, only to be stopped by another marine. I wondered if it was at all possible for John to be the single most popular guy on Atlantis. If not, he was damned close! I vaguely contemplated having a contest, to see who the most popular person on Atlantis really was. It could be informative, if I got written reasons and such, and would be good for a chance to focus on something other than the Wraith.

A morale booster, maybe?

That grin, it always gave so much away. Now he was grinning at the new marine, who, of course, was acting all shy and smiley. Is smiley even a word? But she had her hands behind her back and seemed fidgety as she spoke to him, and a moment later, his face registered surprise.

_And...the grin is gone._

Part of me wondered what she'd said to him, but I forced the thought aside. It wasn't only her, that was smitten. It wasn't only me, and everyone on Atlantis who loved that grin. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Just look at Chaya, the ancient woman who saved a planet. I remembered her stares so clearly, and heard the news of the kiss and 'sharing'.

_Sharing. What is that? I bet he grinned at her._

Brushing my jealous side, well...aside, I sighed and tried to focus on my reports.

I managed to get two done before I had my elbow on the table, and my chin resting in my hand. John was still out there, talking to two male marines now, his grin gone. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this as he seemingly dismissed them and looked at some controls. _John never hangs around my office unless he wants something._

Pursing my lips, I looked back down to my reports and continued working, knowing he'd approach me if it was me he was looking for, and when he was ready. Seeing a notice on my screen, I opened it and frowned when I realized it was a notice for the betting pool. Apparently, two more bets had been opened up.

_1) When will John Sheppard ask Elizabeth Weir out?_

_2) When will John Sheppard meet his next 'Kirk' affair?_

My eyes widened and I felt my jaw drop. Me? Since when was I ever part of this? Shaking my head, I struggled to regain my composure, and I immediately closed down the betting pool on John and me. I just didn't even understand why I was there. Was it because of me being the base commander, and him my second in command?

"Elizabeth?"

Jumping in surprise, I glared at John half heartedly for a moment, trying to ignore the shy little grin he was wearing. "How the hell do you always manage to sneak up on me?" I demanded as I saved my work and put down my data pad.

He was still grinning shyly, looking uncomfortable.

I couldn't help but fight the smile, he looked really innocent and young. It was unusual for John, but it was one of the looks he achieved easily when he 'grinned'. "What?"

"Have you seen...the betting pool lately?"

Now both my eyebrows raised and I debated a moment on what to tell him. Folding my arms on the ede of my desk, I leaned on them and eyed my pad for a moment. "I got a notice, why?" So, I wasn't being fully honest. I wasn't fully lying, either.

I swear, his face turned red. "Oh, nothing."

_That grin._

"I just thought... Well, I noticed Teyla's name was on it. And...uhh...yours...was, too." Now I knew I wasn't imagining the blush.

"Really?" I tried to act surprised and picked up my data pad, opening up the pools. I was about to mention that there was no sign of my name on it when I felt my eyes get wide again at the message in the newest pool, made less than two minutes after I deleted the last.

_Have dinner with me?_

_-John_

It was a private pool, so I was the only one who could get such easy access to it. Raising an eyebrow, I looked up at John through my eyelashes. "Funny. I'd swear there was a pool on here a few moments ago, about when 'John' would 'ask Elizabeth out'."

He ducked his head in a brief nod, his grin gone, and he now looked decidedly uncomfortable. "It was bound to happen. They saw Teyla because we're team mates, spar, and hang out together. It was only a matter of time before they turned to you."

"Are you asking because of the pool?"

He shook his head and a more confident grin crossed his face. "No, I wanted to ask for a long time, I just decided to use the pools to do it." He was still blushing a little.

Pursing my lips, I looked down at the pool before deleting it, so that no one could even accidentally get into it. "Hm, people might start to talk more, about us."

Shrugging, John shook his head and leaned against my door frame. "I'm ok with that if you are."

I didn't even have to think about it. Rumors spread quickly, it was part of life. Did I mind being associated with John? Not in the slightest. "Alright, dinner." I agreed.

The grin spread full blown and I couldn't help but grin back. He looked so excited and young with that smile on his face, and I decided I liked that look best of all.

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Hope you like it.

I'm working on trying to add a little more Elizabeth/John romance to the chapters. Oh, and I don't know how the military rules work here, because she's supposedly civilian? But in charge of a military base? I don't know if the same rules apply to her, but I don't like some of those rules, so for my fictions... Screw them. :P (Well, we'll see, depending on the story).

Wow, I've been trying to come up with themes for a story inspired by 'Rodney's Really Bad Days', and got three before I lost track of ideas. This one, I started Thursday August 07, 2008, and finished my 10th chapter in 24 hours! O.o But just so you know, I tend to update once a week with one chapter, so if it takes a while before I update... Well, as long as it's set to 'Work in Progress' I'll still be working on it. ;)

Oh, and the other one-shot series I'm working on is a John-based story where he's always getting hurt or in trouble. You'd have to read 'Rodney's Really Bad Days' by **Debbie418uk2,** to understand what I'm going for. It's really awesome! (HER story, that is, not mine)

And I now have made an attempt to fix the error in Elizabeth's name, and will keep an eye out in the future to make sure I keep it spelled right. I made a change anywhere I could, but unfortunately, I don't have the first two chapters anymore, after I posted them, or the documents on here. I won't be able to easily change them. I have done so anywhere else I can. :)

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	4. Beard

**Charlie Blue** - Thank you for your comment. Again, as I stated to **Sparklyshimmer2010**, in many of the fanfictions I read, it was spelled with an 's', so I got into the habit of spelling it like that, myself. I'm not sure if I will catch them all, as I am going to look through the 12 chapters I have finished, and have yet to post, but I will try to change them all to 'z'. Thank you for pointing that out, I do like to try and be as acturate as possible, and I do appreciate the constructive critisism. :) If I do happen to miss any changes to her name, or make any errors in the fandom, please feel free to let me know. I don't have access to the full episodes, so I'm working with what I know, transcripts and information I've gathered from the episodes I _have_ seen, and found on youtube.

Thank you again for the comment. I do appreciate the correction. :)

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - I think it was many reasons. On one hand, they might not have been allowed, but I don't see that stopping John Sheppard, if he really wanted her that badly, and I don't think it would stop Elizabeth, either. The thing I think stopped them was that she was taken out of the show before they had time to identify their feelings for each other. The fears of regs slowed them down, and then she was gone before they could get past it all, maybe. They're on another world, in another galaxy and have friends high up in the SGC, who carry a lot of weight. But in all honesty, their relationship is a touchy subject. In some cases, I can see it totally working, and in others, I can't. Either way, I think the story is what you make of it. Fanfiction is your world, your imagination, and your rules. I think that's part of the reason I love it so much, you can make so much happen. I do see your point and it makes a lot of sense. In the show it might not have happened, and it won't, now, since Torri chose not to come back, but in fanfiction, I hate the idea of Carson and Elizabeth being taken out, so I'm going to find every way I possibly can to keep them in the story. ;)

YAY for Elizabeth! YAY for Carson! DOUBLE YAY for John Sheppard! :)

**XakliaAeryn** - I'm glad you like it. Don't worry, I have TONS more chapters to go, and I keep adding more. :)

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The beard...makes him look older, but not by much, and more dignified.

Ronon's beard makes him look scruffy, and that's ok, I guess. He had that whole scruffy, rough, bad boy thing going on anyways. Teal'c's goat'ee giving him a certain...I don't know. Higher dignity? Was that possible? Either way, some men can easily pull off beards, and John Sheppard is one of them.

I think it was a little strange, seeing the scruffy beard with the tiny, occasional grey hairs in it. It wasn't trimmed, like Ronon's, it was full and probably scratchy. I had to fight the urge to run my hand over it when I saw it. It made me wonder if it was as soft as it looked, or scratchy, like most people would expect a beard to be.

I was so used to seeing clean shaven John back on Atlantis, this was a whole new side to him.

_And it looks good on him. Wait, I think I already said that. Oh well, it's true._

It brought out his tanned complexion and his green eyes. And his lips... Don't even get me started on them. The hair circled them, making the pale flesh stand out and look even more tempting than usual. I wondered how it would feel to be kissed by those lips, surrounded by that beard.

_Ok, so I never took myself for the kind of girl to find a man with a beard good looking._

Simon was relatively clean shaven, and even on his bad days, he never got this scruffy.

I never looked twice at men with beards, automatically dismissing them as unsavory and messy. Now, I can't help but wonder...

Before I even knew what I was doing, I was reaching out and running my hand over John's beard. I saw the surprise and confusion in his eyes as he started, having obviously not expected that, but he remained quiet and didn't pull away as I weaved my fingers through the short, thick hairs.

_It's soft._

It was surprisingly soft. I guess I probably should have expected that. John was always a mess of contradictions.

Realising my hand was working through John's beard and he'd risen an eyebrow at me, I felt my face heat up and smiled as I pulled my hand away, thankful the others weren't paying attention. "Looks like you need a shave." I stated, trying to be playful.

He stared at me quietly, a little more, an unusually soft look in his eyes. Then, his eyes slid lower than mine, but never left my face, and I wondered what he was doing. "Right after a shower." He finally stated, his crooked grin making an appearance, and looking more charming than usual with his beard. "Once we get home." His eyes were on mine again.

Nodding, I walked on, noticing we were beginning to close in on the location of the field that had pulled John through. "Would you have ascended?"

"Like I told them," He made a face and shook his head, scratching his chin through his beard. "Not for a very long time, if ever." He scratched a little more.

The others still weren't looking and I bit my lip before reaching out and running my hands through his beard again. "Really. Why not?"

He shrugged and gave me a strange look. His eyes seemed to soften a little and he leaned into my touch, then jerked back and pulled my hand away, scratching at the area I'd just been touching. "That tickles."

I couldn't help but laugh a little, watching him scratch away at the area I'd been brushing my hands over. I knew it would tickle him, I was especially light in my touches, just for that effect.

"Can't _wait_ to get home and shave!" he muttered with a frown as he rubbed his whole beard and sighed, before running a hand through his greasy, yet still amazingly gravity-defying hair.

Hearing that, I gave a pout. John must have seen that, because his eyes narrowed and he mouthed 'what?' to me. I shook my head, not wanting to speak my thoughts out loud.

And then Rodney had to but in with a comment about John _needing_ a shower before anything else. Luckily, that distracted him and allowed me to plot away.

_I wonder if I can convince him to keep it like that, or at least grow it out a little now and then._

Clean shaven John was definitely very nice, but scruffy, bearded John had it's perks, too.

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LOL I've never imagined myself as a girl to like bearded guys, but John really does pull it off.

Hope you like it.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	5. Bravery

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Well, yes, Lorne is definitely a hottie. I can't believe I left him out! :O I like scruffy Shep and clean shaven Shep, myself. The full beard I find a little much, but hey, he does manage to pull it off.

**Charlie Blue** - Ah yes, that one may be a little harder. Elizabeth I'd just started, so switching one letter was no problem. Teal'c, I was doing for a while. I don't know why. O.o But thank you for pointing it out, I'll keep an eye on that one, too. I think I managed to catch all the 's' in the chapters, and since I've written more, I've kept her name with a 'z'. :) I've seen a lot of the episodes, up to season four's ending, Last Man (?). And on youtube . com, they have some of the season 5 episodes posted, under channels. So I've seen some of them, there, too.

And please, don't worry. I can go on and on about Joe/John's hotness, too. Why do you think I'm writing this fic? LOL! My way of ranting about all the things that are John, only from Elizabeth's POV.

Here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy it!

(Reads first line and mind dives into the gutter) Hm... O.o LOL

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"Did you _see_ the size of those things?!" Rodney was screaming at John, again. "They're _huge_!"

Crouching down behind some boulders, I found myself thinking not of the impending doom, but about John's bravery. He had people trapped, Teyla and Ronon, and there were several large bug-like monsters between us and them

Yet, the only thing that phased him was that he really didn't like bugs.

"I hate bugs!" He muttered with a glare, jumping up to throw a grenade at them.

_See?_

I watched as he ducked back down, and almost yelped when he launched himself at me. I felt his arms circle my waist, and his lean, strong body press flat against mine as he took me down with ease. My hands were pressed against his chest, so I couldn't move. He moved his arms from my waist, to cover my head before I could even formulate a word in my shock, and pressed his palms over my ears.

...Just seconds before a big blast went off.

Shaking a moment, I swallowed heavily as he slowly pulled back, taking my hands to help me back into a seated position.

"You ok?" he asked in concern, wiping off debris from his shoulder as he looked around the rocks we were hiding behind. "Damn! It didn't work! What are these things made of?!" He looked to Rodney.

Glaring at him with big blue eyes, Rodney huffed at the obvious expectancy. "Why look at me? It's not like I know! Maybe you should go ask them." Picking up his computer tablet, he began to type away. "It's-It's... Uh...It's some kind of metal alloy that doesn't match up with anything we have on file, happy?!"

"Not really." John answered with a grimace, eyeing the nearby Stargate.

I felt my eyes widen. "We can't just leave them there!"

For a moment, John looked at me like I was suggesting he cut off both arms and legs. "Who the hell said we _were_?!"

Blinking for a moment, I frowned, not really in the mood to play with him. Still, it did strike me that things were looking grim. These monsters were obviously meat eaters, the way they picked into a corpse of a dead animal of some kind, and they were made of metal.

_Metal!_

How the hell were we supposed to get our people out?!

Yet, John still barely seemed phased. He rolled his bottom lip in against his teeth and stuck his tongue out as he eyed the C4 he was carrying, along with his P90 and thigh holstered gun.

"The grenade had no effect, the C4 might, but it'll get us too, if we're too close." Rodney pointed out, glancing briefly from around the rock. "Isn't there... Isn't there some way to get Teyla and Ronon safely around those things??"

Pursing his lips, John eyed the forest. Then his eyes lit up and I was struck by the grin that formed. Tapping his ear, he stayed facing the forest. "Ronon? Teyla? Can you read me?"

There was a moment of silence before I heard Teyla's voice over our comm systems.

"We are here, John."

"Listen, if I distract those things, do you think you and Ronon can make it to the tree line? You should be able to get away from them there, use it as cover."

"I believe so."

Nodding to himself, John turned to Rodney. "McKay, I'm going to be counting on you getting Elizabeth out of here." His tone was grim.

Shivering in fear, I watched the determined look in his eyes as he explained his plan quietly to Rodney.

He was going to act as a decoy.

_Brave...but so foolish. _

What if something happened? None of us would be able to help him!

Still, Rodney nodded, and before I had a chance to say anything, John was out from behind the rocks, firing his P90 at the bugs and running across the clearing, away from the Stargate. He managed to keep himself between the gate and the bugs, but the farther he got, the closer to him they were getting. They were just too fast.

Then, I felt a hand on my arm and someone tugging me to my feet. "What?" I saw Rodney's terrified face as he dragged me to the gate and began dialing. "No. John!" I called to him, hoping he'd see we were close to salvation.

Teyla and Ronon took that moment to appear out of the trees, relatively unscathed.

"John!" I called again as the bugs closed in.

I saw him raise his gun, I saw him press the trigger, and I saw him curse as he realized the clip was empty. Jumping out of the way of an attack, he dropped his P90 and scrambled to avoid a second attack.

Racing forward, Teyla began to fire her P90 from the edge of some rocks, and Ronon fired his blaster managing to actually take one of the monsters down. Taking this opportunity, John got up quickly and began running towards us, more of those bugs closing him behind him.

The gate whooshed behind me and I jumped as Rodney grabbed my arm and began dragging me to the gate. Now I began to struggle.

_He's so close._

"No! Let me go, Rodney!" Looking over, I saw one of the monsters swipe and John. He saw it last second and jumped to the side, getting gashed across his arm, but he kept running, grabbing his hand gun from his thigh holster and firing it at the bugs to slow them down. "John! Hurry!"

I heard Rodney speaking into his head piece about us coming in hot, and felt him tugging on my arm. This time, I allowed myself to be dragged, seeing that John had rejoined us. Running through the gate, I turned as I came out the other side, watching the others come through behind me.

Teyla and Ronon.

A second passed, and I thought my heart was going to stop.

Then there, last second, John came flying through the gate and hit the ground ungracefully. There, he laid, breathing heavily and blinking. The shield of the gate quickly went up and several white blasts hit the gate. It seemed the bugs tried to follow him.

_Oh thank god!_

Shaking my head, I collapsed to my knees, my mind running over that entire encounter again and again.

"Ma'am? What happened with the trade negotiations?"

"They wouldv'e went better without the uninvited guests." John groaned as he sat up, hissing at the wound in his arm.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that was?" Teyla was in his face, glaring at him. "Ronon and I can take care of ourselves. You almost got killed." Her tone was calm, if a little bit louder than normal, but her look was very irritated.

Ronon nodded grimly. "That was stupid." He agreed bluntly.

Looking at them a moment, John raised an eyebrow. "Gee. You're welcome." Seeing that they weren't kidding, he sighed. "Oh come on. What did you expect me to do?" At the last moment, he began to grin. "Besides, I'd say that was incredibly brave, wouldn't you?"

For that last comment, he was looking directly at me with a slightly smug smile, despite the blood on his hand from his arm.

Glaring darkly at him, I admitted there were a number of things to say. "John, I have a lot to say." His smile began to grow, and my frown deepened. "And I can't say any of them because it wouldn't be polite company." Oh, the look of shock on his face was priceless, but I struggled not to grin and give away how much I was enjoying watching him squirm. Getting up, I ordered Carson to take John to the infirmary and check him over. I also made sure to request a CAT scan, pointing out exactly what I thought of John's deed.

Still, as I walked away, hearing him protesting, I did admit it was brave. Stupid, yes, but brave.

I just wasn't going to admit it to him.

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	6. Thighs

I originally wanted to call this one 'Thigh Holster' but it deals with his thighs, so... Bah, I'm leaving it titled 'Thighs'.

**Charlie Blue** - Take the 'd' out and you'll have spelled it right. ;) No worries though, I know what you meant. I'm glad you found it funny, I was trying to go for a little bit of cuteness at some point. LOL I'm sure you'll find many lines that send your mind to the gutter, I'm good for a gutter mind, so.. LOL

**Converse** - Thank you :) I'm glad you like it. Don't worry, I have lots more coming. LOL. (Is wondering if that's a notification, or a warning. lol)

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Thank you :) I'm glad you think so, this whole fiction is one of my first attempts at this pairing. I always liked their interaction, and their characters, so this is a fun story to work on. :)

Titles yet to come -

Cake, Cute, Fear, Guns

Hair, Hands, Kind, Lanky,

Lazy, Luck, Prankster, Scars

Smart Ass, Tears, Theories, Voice

Warm

These are listed in Alphabetical order, not necessarily the way they will be posted. Some of these will be very cute, I'm hoping.

Enjoy!

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Oh how that man had _thighs_!

Looking him over as he walked beside Ronon, I found that he looked good. Then again, this was John Sheppard, he always looked good. Currently, he was in a pair of black BDUs with a black t-shirt and an open black button down shirt over it with the symbols of Atlantis on his shoulders. He wore his army boots loosened, and clomping as he took every step, and his hair was unruly, as usual.

Then, there was the thigh holster.

_It can't be right one man can make a holster look so good!_

The way it fit snugly, but not too tightly, around his thigh... It drew attention, that's all I need to say. I have no idea about what it is, I don't think I've ever found anything like that so...interesting? But this was John.

And of course, John must have sensed me looking at him. He glanced in my direction and I felt my face get hot. Looking away a moment, I focused on a marine as he approached and took a small data pad from him. Thanking him, I watched as he walked off, also wearing a thigh holster and pursed my lips when I realized it didn't look so good on him.

Too much muscle.

Taking a moment to try and casually look at the data pad, I hesitantly looked over at John, only to find he was leaning against the wall, talking to Ronon, with one leg lifted and his boot pressed flat against the wall, and his arms crossed over his chest. He was turned towards Ronon, and I was presented with how comfortably that thigh holster fit his leg, and how sleek the gun looked along the black of his pants.

Again he glanced at me, only this time he raised an eyebrow and I caught the faintest hints of a grin at the corners of his mouth. For a moment, nothing was said, but then he gave me a curious look.

Feeling my face heat up, I resisted the urge to look at the gun strapped to his thigh and turned back to the pad in my hands, walking purposely to a small hallways leading to a transport. It was still early, so very few people were around.

_What's it feel like, I wonder. Having a gun strapped to your thigh?_

For a brief moment, I wondered about that. I was never really armed with anything more than a knife on off world diplomatic missions. That was what John and his team were for, my weapons. But the SGC seemed to be reconsidering a small firearm allowed. I'd never worn a thigh holster and I wondered how I'd look with one.

_I doubt it would fit me the way it fits him though._

Hearing the sound of footsteps behind me, I distantly heard John telling Ronon he'd catch up with him later. Glancing over my shoulder, I caught his eyes on me and a boyish grin crossed his face before he waved and took off down another hallway.

Shaking my head, I sighed and smiled to myself as I walked on. With John Sheppard around, my time in Atlantis was bound to be interesting.

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Hope you like it, it's a bit shorter, I know.

I don't know if Elizabeth was ever allowed weapons, as she's a civilian, and what kind of weapons, so this is just what I'm using for now. I have a later chapter that will change it, like a progession, if you will.

R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	7. Guns Might not be what it seems

**Hand of Atlantis** - Thank you for your post. I will try to keep in mind for future chapters about how she feels. You probably won't care for this chapter, because it deals with Elizabeth and guns, but I do try to show she is very uncomfortable with them, and does not want one. As for the knife thing, I always thought she carried _some_ sort of weapon, because the SGC wouldn't want her out and about unarmed, despite her escort. But again, I will keep that in mind and try to fix any future chapters so that I don't make the same mistake.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Oh boy. Good thing I didn't mention that knife that hangs down just over his, um, assets. LOL. I'm glad you liked it. :)

(Wonders if anyone ever saw 'The Flan's Booty' video on youtube. It definitely gives a quick point out to, uh... 'The Flan's Booty'. LOL!

**Charlie Blue** - Now my gutter mind wants to know _why_ he carries the holster so low. O.o LOL. It was one of many things I noticed about him. And as for the 'arms', I've added it to my list of 'to write' chapters, that I have. Hm, now it makes me ponder doing a 'legs' chapter, too. I know I thought about a 'butt' chapter, at one point. ;) LOL

Hmm...maybe 'chest hair'?

O.o (reigns in gutter mind) Oh, sorry about that. Um, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

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When you think of Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, what's the first thing you think of?

Eyes? Hair? Smart ass comments?

For me, it's the uniform and gun combo. When he's off world, it's always uniform and P90 at the ready, with his hand gun in his thigh holster. Around the base, it's the messy uniform and thigh holster. And on any earth-based missions, it tends to be casual wear and a gun hidden down the back of his pants.

I know, it's probably odd for a civilian negotiator to be talking so much about guns, I've never been big on them, really. I guess, it was something about _John_ carrying a gun.

It somehow gave him a more...dangerous sense. He could be deadly, and anyone with half a brain could see that, but usually, he came in peace. He wouldn't shoot unless he had to, which definitely appealed to me. He just wasn't one of those 'shoot first, ask questions later' type marines.

When they finally passed that mandate about even the military commanders, or...in my case, civilian base commanders, having to carry a side arm, it was up to John to teach me. I wasn't looking forward to it, though. Ok, so John made guns look...

A number of words came to mind. Cool, hot, sexy, dangerous, good...

I ended up sticking with 'good'.

But they just weren't my thing. I fully planned to pull every trick in the book, and then some, to keep from ever even taking a gun with me, let alone using it. The idea of having to protect myself, and using a gun... It disturbed me, but, unfortunately, I didn't have much of a choice. Still, that didn't stop me from trying to talk John out of the 'necessary' training.

"Look, I can use martial arts, and Teyla's teaching me to work the bantos sticks." I stated with a frown as John signed out two hand guns and the necessary protective equipment.

Giving me a side glance, he raised an eyebrow. "And if the enemy is shooting from far away?"

"I can duck behind the nearest boulder."

"And if there's no boulders to duck behind?" His tone stayed casual, but I saw a sparkle in his eyes as he reached out and placed the protective eye glasses around my neck before taking one of my hands and putting a pair of thick gloves in it. "And no trees or bushes?"

"I... Well, that's what you guys are there for." I put in stubbornly, pouting a little, though I'd never admit it. "You're supposed to be my body guards and weapons." And I relied on that, though I'd never really admit _that_, either.

"And we won't _always_ be able to protect you." He put in, frowning now as the idea obviously bothered him. Gesturing for me to lead the way, he followed me into the training room. "You need to look after yourself."

"What about the Wraith Stunners we've been using?"

"What if the enemy's immune to them? I've seen it happen. Or if there's an energy field around the planet that neutralizes them? Besides..." Staring at me as he placed the second gun and ammo clip on the table in front of me, he raised an eyebrow. "They're still guns."

Guns, I didn't want one. Can you blame me? It was bad enough they were insisting we be armed, though I could understand why, but they should at least have let _me_ decide. "Yeah, but unless I repeatedly shoot someone, I can't kill them." I pointed out, trying hard not to glare at him. He was, after all, only trying to help.

Plus, with the glasses on, and handling the gun, he looked good. Especially in his more casual version of the Atlantis uniform, and his usual hand gun thigh holster strapped on. Hell, he even had his dog tags swinging loosely around his neck, over his t-shirt! Wow, he brought 'hot' to a whole new level!

_Focus, Elizabeth._

"You don't _have_ to use the gun, it's just a safety precaution." He stated softly, holding up the empty gun.

Taking it carefully, I ran my hands over the sides of it and carefully took it in one hand. It was awkward. Cold and sleek. I was immediately afraid I'd drop it, or it would accidentally go off and hurt someone. It took John showing me the proper way to hold it and giving me the clip before my next comment came to me. "Hey! I can carry it around empty! I mean, they'll think I'm armed, and I can play the part-"

"And not all of them will be fooled by that, Elizabeth." John raised an eyebrow. "And you know that."

"I know." Frowning, I took the clip and popped it into the gun before racking the slide. Glancing up, I saw the surprised look on John's face and raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" He gaped for a moment, before shaking his head and forcing a grin. "John, just because I'm a civilian, doesn't mean I've never been taught how to handle a gun. _Wanting _to use one, and shooting it, on the other hand..." I trailed off, looking at the gun and feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

As an after thought, I checked the safety and clicked it on until I was ready to use the gun.

"Oh, well.. That'll make my job easier, I guess." Was it me, or did he look a little...disappointed? Frowning a moment, he took up the stand he usually used, when at the range, and I caught myself staring at the way you could tell all his muscles were tensed. Well, all but his shoulders, he rolled them a little before glancing at me. "You gonna follow me?"

Blinking, I felt my face heat up and pointedly looked him over, trying to ignore how good he looked. Turning to the range, I clicked off the safety and pointed the gun to the ground before licking my lips, trying for the same posture as him and carefully aiming the gun at the distant target. "Um, just for the record, I'm really uncomfortable about this." I found myself saying nervously, as I tried to keep my stance as steady as possible. Ok, uncomfortable? I down right hated this. Well, all but the _John_ training me, bit.

Why couldn't he train me in bantos?

_Oh, there's an idea._

"You're thinking too much." I heard him put his gun on the table, but didn't turn away from the target. A moment later, and I felt his hand on my arm, pushing down in an indication to lower the gun. "And you forgot your safety eye wear."

"Oh." I clicked on the safety and gently put the gun down before putting on the glasses and very hesitantly picking it back up. I felt John's hands on my hips, steadying me and setting me up, then they were on my arms.

"Ok, you're good. Just remember to keep your arms loose." He walked back over to his gun and picked it up. Taking the stance he had earlier, he aimed and a moment later, fired three shots into the target, with really good aim.

I jumped. The shots were louder than I'd expected, and I felt my heart racing. Still, I couldn't help but stare at him, a little bit impressed at how easy he made it look. Then he glanced my way and I turned to the targets. _Oh boy. Here we go._

"Remember to keep your arms loose." He called slightly.

Nodding, I took a deep breath, aimed, clicked off the safety, and pulled the trigger. Three times. Only one of my shots hit, and I glanced over to see John nod a little.

"Not bad."

_Maybe, but I still have a ways to go._

And it didn't make me hate guns any less. Maybe I could talk General O'Neill into letting me remain unarmed. I'm sure I could find a way to get him to agree.

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Hope you like it.

I don't know a lot of the rules in guns, and stuff, anything I stated, I used from memory of shows with gun ranges, and things I've picked up from fanfictions. I was corrected with the way Elizabeth thinks, and I understand better now. I only put this down, because at the time of writing it, this was the way it had come out.

Once I was made aware of my mistake, I edited the chapter more, to show Elizabeth's clear hatred and discomfort around guns, as well as her plot to try and get around the new 'law'.

I also have her carrying a knife, just because I figured they'd want everyone to be armed for safety. But I'll try to keep in mind the way she feels about guns, and make sure future chapters work with that.

R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi


	8. Hands

I'm currently on a bad connection, so I can't reply to reviews in this chapter, but I will in the next.

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_Dear Diary..._

Looking through past entries, I felt my face heat up and laughed a little, thankful I was in the privacy of my own quarters. There was a lot in here, about John, and all of it was embarrassing. It would be mortifying if he ever found it. Still, I pursed my lips and began today's topic of what was on my mind.

_John's hands._

Wow, all I got was two words, and I was blushing like a school girl. It was incredibly... Well, my mind imagined all sorts of things from them.

_Today I got injured on an off world mission that didn't go exactly to plan._

But then, how was I to know that the people had a thing about women in charge? They didn't like it, it seemed, but luckily I was there with John's team and they were able to save me before the people decided to have me executed.

How does that bring into picture John's hands? Quite simple. I got cut on the wrist, and shoulder, and he's the one who bandaged me. Teyla offered, but he seemed to take it personally, that anyone dared touch me, so he did it himself.

The first thing he did was to carefully get my vest and jacket off. I was struck that his fingers were so nimble, and the way they had no trouble on the buttons on my uniform had me blushing. If I was lucky, he wouldn't notice.

_His attention seemed to be focused solely on my injuries._

I could see that his fingers were long and slender and a little bit calloused. I expected his grip to be rough, but once again he shocked me. I saw the way he handled one of the guards, at my cell. He grabbed the guy by the collar, with one hand, and practically _threw_ him on to the ground!

Dangerous.

Yet... Here he was, very gently removing my vest and jacket, leaving me in my t-shirt, and then he rolled up my sleeve to bare the cut on my shoulder.

His fingers kept brushing against my skin. It couldn't be helped, the way he was cleaning the wound, but they were...hot. Not warm, as you'd expect, but hot. I felt the callouses draw across my arm, but the touch was feather light and so soft.

John licked his lips as his hand ran over my arm, and he carefully bandaged my injuries. They weren't severe, but he mentioned not wanting to chance an infection, or leaving a blood trail for the enemy.

_Excuses? Maybe._

You didn't see or here me complaining. Rodney, yes, as he had yet another splinter in his hand and John just threw a pair of tweezers at him. But not me. John's eyes were locked on mine, and I didn't know what to say.

_We didn't have too much trouble getting back to the gate, and John held my hand the entire way._

It wasn't a romantic gesture...I think. I wasn't sure. I wasn't really paying attention, to be honest. My mind was more stuck on how firm his hands were, and the strength I could feel in them, but though they were calloused, I liked how they felt in mine. My hand was smaller, that I could see, and he clutched it like he was afraid to let go.

BEEP!

Looking up from my book, I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't been expecting anyone. Frowning for a moment, I saved and closed my diary before making sure me and my room were presentable. "Come in!"

There was no response.

Not really knowing what to expect, or what to say or do, I got up and walked over to my door. Opening it, I felt my eyes widen to find a single rose on the ground, looking fresh picked from the greenhouse we'd formed on base.

Kneeling down, I picked up the rose and smiled. For a moment, I imagined John in the greenhouse, running his hands over the roses and then picking one. Strangely, even though I didn't know who'd sent this rose, I had a very strong feeling it was a certain black haired, green eyed Colonel on base.

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I'm sure you've noticed by now, I tend to bring in John at some point, and they have a brief discussion, or something happens. I like to add a little bit of interaction and dialogue, rather than simply thoughts and opinions in narration form. Does that make any sense? O.o

Hope you like it

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	9. Luck

**Charlie Blue** - John really does make a thigh holster look good. For some reason I'd swear I already answered this review, but it's not in the chapters... (Shrugs) Ok, I'll answer it again. LOL. Whenever I see a picture of Joe Flanigan, no matter what role he plays, my eyes stray to his...eyes. Yes, I was planning to say EYES the whole time. LOL.

New titles added to the list...

Timing, Arms, Legs, Chest, Hero.

It's there now ;)

I understand what you're saying. Weapons can be fascinating, it's what they do to people that bother me. I've held one gun in my life, it was a rifle, and I was just holding it for my grandfather when he needed to go out and shoot some raccoons that were attacking our animals on our farm. I would never shoot a gun, if I had a choice. Too many ways it can accidentally hurt an innocent person.

**Hand of Atlantis** - It has come to my attention Elizabeth does in fact carry a weapon on her. Submersion, the Return (part 2), and Progeny were named for this. I can understand why she would absolutely refuse, if she had a choice, but as I stated before, I didn't see the SGC allowing her to go on offworld missions without a weapon, of some sort. Now, she's not going to carry all kinds of P90, hand gun, and several knives on her, but a single hand gun and maybe a hidden knife, I can see.

Still, my stories are not meant to put focus on her being armed to the teeth or having to use weapons, but her thoughts on John, more than anything. I do appreciate your comment, and it really does make sense. I don't recall if she had a weapon in those episodes, but I do think it makes sense.

I should not have many more, maybe only one or two at most, chapters with her using weapons. And I have 19 chapters written.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - LOL There's nothing wrong with that. He's got nice thighs. ;) Thank you for your comments. As I stated above, it made sense for her to have to carry a weapon. Regulations, right? But I do understand, Elizabeth does not like guns, I can see it. She may have to carry one, but she won't use it unless she absolutely HAS to. Look up the vid, trust me, it's a cute one ;) LOL

Oh, now I'm going to disagree with that. John and Elizabeth... John's on a closer plane to her in bantos, and I'm sure she'd prefer him teaching her ;) Trust me, I have a future chapter working with that, entitled 'Legs'. LOL

LOL Don't worry, when reviewing, if I'm on another computer, I sometimes don't sign in because it's late, and the connection is iffy. I'm glad you like this so far. I have at least 19 more chapters to go to this story, and more I'm thinking about.

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"John, I appreciate your appearance, don't get me wrong, but your luck really sucks." I muttered as he was pushed into the cell.

Then again, what else should I have expected? This was the guy who single-handedly brought the Wraith down on us all, not that I blame him, he did the right thing. He also managed to get the number one spot of the Genii's 'people to kill' list, and, well... Basically, where there was an enemy to be had, John found them.

Whether he meant to, or not.

"Hey, the plan seemed good at the time. How was I supposed to know they were... What?"

I guess I was grinning at him. Seeing the confused expression, I shook my head. "Seriously. You have the worst luck. It's like trouble is _drawn_ to you, or something." And it was a little funny.

Ok, so maybe not that funny, but I couldn't help finding it funny. Maybe it was the odd tasting water I'd been drinking when it became clear they weren't going to feed me. I was only doing it to survive.

"Are you ok?" He asked with a weird look, rubbing his arm where the guard had been holding him, and walking over to sit next to me. "You're...acting kinda odd."

I shrugged. "Just thinking."

"I really don't think I wanna know what about." Looking at me warily, he eyed the bowl of water at my side and his eyes narrowed. "Um, Elizabeth? Have you been drinking this water?"

I shrugged again and grinned. "Yup." Everything felt...fuzzy. I felt like I was drunk and stoned at the same time. Not that I've been stoned... Ok, once, when I was younger, some of my friends and I... Oh, never mind. What was John doing with my water? "Hey!"

Tossing the freshly emptied bowl out of the barred window, I watched as John came back over and leaned in close.

_Oh, ok. No more complaining._ I thought as I smiled at him. He was examining my face, now... If only he'd lean in a little closer. Narrowing my eyes, I got a good look at his. "Whoa, your eyes are really cool!"

Now he was smirking. "Yup, definitely drugged." Shaking his head, he sighed and looked around, any sign of amusement fading.

"But what was I saying before?" Thinking for a moment, or...trying to, I snapped my fingers after a moment, before staring at my hand. "Wow, I have _long_ fingers."

John grinned again and stared at my hand.

"Oh, no, but you've got really bad luck."

Now he raised an eyebrow, his grin turning more confused, like he didn't know whether to be amused, or worried, or what.

"I mean, you woke up the Wraith, and alerted them to us."

He frowned now, a pained expression crossing his face. "Elizabeth..."

I held up a hand, finally having found that trail of thought. "Returned Teyla's necklace to her, alerting the Wraith to where ever you went without realizing it. Those guys are such a pain in the ass! Got caught by the Iratus bug and had to have your heart stopped." I shuddered at that and frowned at him. "Don't do that again, ok? That was bad, and the bug was really ugly."

He nodded, still frowning and looking for all the world like he wished he was someplace else. "Don't worry, I don't plan to do that again." He shuddered. "I _hate_ those things!" Shaking his head, he sighed. "Elizabeth."

I shook my head and pointed at him, trying to ignore how everything was spinning. "What else...? Oh, the Genii _hate_ you. I think that might be a good thing, though." I had to grin at this. "You run into at least one Wraith, where ever you go, who seems to have it in for you. Although, in the end you always manage to kick their asses. Nearly suicide bombed a Wraith Hive, when they attacked Atlantis... Wow, that can't all be coincidence. You've got _really_ bad luck!"

"_Elizabeth_" He was almost glaring by now. "You've made your point."

"No. No, I haven't, that's not even the tip of it! How many rescue missions have you gone on, that ended up with you captured, too?" I pointed around. "Like this one."

"Would you rather I didn't come?" He finally snapped, not looking at me.

It finally sunk in that I was bringing up bad memories for him and I felt myself sober up. I saw the pain in his eyes as he looked around, and knew he was struggling not to think of all those painful times. "John..."

"No, you made your point. I have bad luck. I drag everyone into trouble with me. Thanks, I needed to hear that."

Frowning deeply, I stared at him. "I said bad luck." Luckily, the drug seemed to be wearing off a little and I began to curse mentally for saying my thoughts out loud. "I never said you dragged anyone into trouble. You're getting it all wrong." Shaking my head, I sighed. "Look, I'm obviously not...thinking right." Now it was hard to think, even with my head clearing, I had no idea what I'd meant by all that, or how to explain it without hurting him. "I didn't mean it all in a bad way, I mean, look at all the good you've done."

I snapped my fingers again, pointedly _not_ looking at them. "And you always get the girl." I paused at that. "Ancient, no, two ancients, I think. And at least one alien girl. And then the little girl, the princess? That was kind of...weird. Wow, you really _are_ the Kirk of Atlantis!" Was that really a good thing??

He still refused to meet my eyes.

Groaning loudly, I got on my hands and knees and shuffled over to him. He looked at me warily a moment, the pain still present in his face, and I took that moment to wrap my arms around his neck. "You've got really bad luck, yes, but you're still Atlantis' hero, remember?" I spoke more softly. "And even when you do get captured, you always find a way out." Squeezing him tightly, I felt one of his hands circle my waist lightly, almost like he was afraid of crossing a line. "Thank you for coming for me, John."

I felt him rest his head on my shoulder and sigh. "...Always." I heard him mutter quietly as he squeezed my waist a little.

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That one confused even me. I don't do good drugged effects, so... I was going for kinda stoned, but not _too_ badly, and rambling on without realizing it.

Hope you liked it.

R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	10. Tears

I am NOT intending to make John sound like a crybaby here, I'm sorry if that's the hint I'm giving. I just want to show he has a softer side, even if he does try to hide it.

**Charlie Blue - **Well, more like drugged water, but in the end it did kind of serve like a truth serum, since she was being all too truthful. Poor John. I didn't mean for it to get so harsh on him :S

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Don't worry, on my grandfather's computer, I signed in four times with no problem...except that it kept asking me to log in. O.o No other page popped up or nothing. Same thing happened on other sites I was on, so I decided not to bother while I was there. That's why the late update.

Yeah, I was trying to go for Elizabeth being really out of it, due to the drugs in the water. LOL Since I'm choosing chapters at random, there's no telling what's coming next. ;) And yes, I counted them, 19 (well, 18, now) to go.

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_Tears._

Never shed, that I saw, but they were there. It was a rare occasion to see that form of emotion from John, really. I mean, when Sumner was lost, he turned to anger, but I saw the lingering regret. When we lost Aiden, the pain was stronger, but he remained defensive. We lost many soldiers in our off world explorations, and each time he had to report a loss, I saw the pain and guilt in his eyes. But, he remained defensive, as if afraid showing sadness and grieving was a sign of weakness.

But none of those times did he cry. There were tears. If you were lucky enough to get him to hold still for a few moments, and get a good look into his eyes, you could see the walls, but you could also see the tears threatening to get by.

They never did.

Not even when he learned his father had died. There was regret, once again, and I learned they had never been close, stopped talking a long time ago. I even heard from Ronon his brother wasn't that great of a guy, and that it seemed the only one John knew back on earth, who showed him any real sympathy, was his ex wife.

That bothered me. It made me a little upset, even though Ronon mentioned it was more pity and sympathy than anything. I wanted to be there. There for John, there as support, but I hadn't thought of it until one second too late.

I think, I was too shocked by the idea that our great John Sheppard's own father had _died_.

I didn't know much about his family, he never really spoke of them, but I could see the pain instantly, even though I think he was hoping I'd tell him it was someone's twisted idea of a joke. When he realized it was real, I saw the tears slip into his eyes before he could blink them away. I saw the raw pain, and knew he was trying to remain strong.

_The tears are still there._

Time has passed. How much? I could check, but I really don't want to. At least a year, if not more. I don't want to look back on that day. But... Even though time has passed, John still had the lingering traces of pain in his eyes.

It didn't help when Ronon had been captured. I saw the fear in his eyes at the time, that he might lose yet another friend, another comrade. Teyla comforted him the best she could, but I could still see it bothered him.

And in some sense, I felt like the enemy.

How many times did he have hope of rescuing these people, and I said no? How many times did I hold him back, knowing it was futile, but trying anyways? I slowed him down. Sometimes I found myself thinking, if I had let him go sooner, would at least some of these people still be alive? 'Too dangerous', I said. 'It's suicide', I insisted. I wanted to say yes, but in my position... I just wasn't allowed.

I have tears in my eyes too, you know. I won't just let them fall, not that easily, but they're there.

"John."

I watched as he jumped and looked over his shoulder at me. We were on the balcony leading from the control room, and he'd probably come out here for some time to think. He obviously wasn't expecting me, because I watched silently as a single tear glittered as it threatened to roll down his cheek, before he casually brushed it away and offered me a fake smile.

"Elizabeth. Hey, what's up?"

Frowning, I tilted my head as he looked away, and slowly walked forward. "There was nothing you could do, you know." I was talking about two marines we lost on the trip down to the digging platform under the ocean. The two marines killed by the Wraith Queen.

He turned away and didn't respond, but I'd spent enough time around him to know that my comments wouldn't help much. I've had people say them to me, and they never worked. I was still left with my pain and regret.

Walking over, I stood at the railing beside him, leaning against him a little. I wanted to gather him into my arms and hold him, but I knew he would never be comfortable with that, and in my position, it wouldn't be proper. With a quiet sigh, I leaned against him a little more and felt him lean back. "How long have you been up?"

He shrugged quietly.

I had been expecting some sort of verbal answer, so his silent shrug caught me off guard. Looking up, I watched as he frowned deeply, and had his eyes closed, an expression of deep conflict etched into his face.

_He's fighting the tears._

Looking over my shoulder, I took out the remote to open and close the panel and hit it, watching as the door slid shut. Then, deciding to hell with the rules, I pocketed the remote before leaning over and wrapping my hands around his shoulders. "It _wasn't_ your fault." I insisted again, ignoring the way his body stiffened up against mine.

"Elizabeth...?" His voice was rougher than I was used to, and after a long moment, I felt his arms quickly circle my waist. Still, he held me lightly, as if afraid to hurt me, and his own body remained stiff. I felt him trembling ever so slightly, and knew he was still trying to be strong. "I... Sorry..." He shook his head and made to pull away after a few seconds.

Holding him tightly, I sighed loudly. "John, you need to stop bottling it up. It doesn't help. One day you're... You're just gonna snap."

_And look whose talking. He's not the only one fighting their tears..._

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but after a few moments, I felt him relax a little against me, and the trembling slowly stopped. When we finally did pull apart, his eyes looked a little less haunted, and a couple tears clung to his eyes. He hadn't cried, but I think he let go of a little of the pain.

"Thank you." He said softly, giving me a small, genuine smile.

Nodding, I leaned against him as we overlooked the ocean. "Any time, John. Any time."

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Hope you like it.

John didn't strike me as the crying type, but I know he felt pain. I didn't want to make him sappy and crying, but I did want to show he was able to feel the emotion, even if he fought it. And Elizabeth strikes me as the same, with not wanting to cry freely in front of people.

Oh, and the remote thing for the balcony, I'm not too sure on the balconies and technology, so that's just... My own imagination entwined with facts from fanfiction and the show?

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	11. Cake

I have no idea Ronon's age, but I think he's supposed to be younger than Sheppard and Co, so I'm going to say 28 for now,

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - I'm glad you like that one. I was trying to go for more emotion in it. There are so many layers to the character John Sheppard, I only hope to be able to capture some of them.

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John. And sweets. They go together well.

In many senses.

I mean, it's fun to watch him enjoying a piece of cake, the blissful expression on his face and the way he eats it slowly, sometime giving a little moan and grin. I think, one of those occasions, however, he was having lemon coffee cake, and was being more dramatic about it, than usual, just because McKay was sitting across from him.

Still, maybe Rodney didn't enjoy the show, but _I_ certainly did.

Then again, how could anyone _not_ enjoy John making dessert seem almost...sinful?

Today's dessert was chocolate cake, and if you were lucky enough to be a good friend to the person who baked the cakes, they'd make an extra one just for... Well, I asked a couple extra be baked today, simply because it was Ronon's birthday, back on his home world. He didn't understand our rituals, but it was John's idea, and I had to agree, I thought it might be fun.

So there were three extra cakes made, and I planned to have extra big slices for the senior staff, and a whole cake for Ronon himself. You should see that boy _eat_! I never planned for what happened, to happen. And between you and me, that was a security feed I was going to keep and play again and again. The whole thing was, well..

Ok. First of all, I should start from the beginning. John _loves_ sweets, ok? Anything will do, from sweet tart lollipops he can munch on throughout the day, to pieces of gum, to gummy candies he can smuggle from earth. Anything.

Ronon... He loves a lot of our foods, our sweets especially.

And I really don't think either of them meant for this to happen. Really. Still...

_John was carrying the cake into the lunch room for Ronon's birthday._

He wanted to do it, seeing himself more as Ronon's best friend, which was true, than anyone. Teyla didn't know much about the ritual, but would have a chance to find out for herself when her birthday came around, and Rodney... He was all for it, especially when he realized there would be _cake_.

"It's a tradition, Ronon. How people celebrate their date of birth varies, but they almost always involve cake and a party of some sort with your friends." I remembered John telling him with a grin before disappearing into the kitchen.

He hadn't taken long before the lights in the room dimmed. Of course, Teyla and Ronon hadn't known this was coming, so they'd dropped into defensive stands, Ronon grabbing his blaster quickly.

It took myself and McKay to inform them it was part of the tradition, for them to relax, even though Ronon had made a point to point out how impractical it was. Sure, it took away from our ability to see enemies skulking around, but here in Atlantis, I certainly hoped we didn't have enemies there, at that moment, to worry about.

The singing started up... First just John, who was carrying the cake with one big lit candle in the center, shaped into a number. 28. Yeah, it surprised me, too. Under all those dreadlocks and that beard, there was a surprisingly young man underneath.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you..."

One by one, we all began singing. John was eyeing the cake with the usual glint in his eyes, as if he wanted to rush off and eat it himself. Obviously, his sweet tooth was whispering sweet nothings into his ears again.

"Happy birthday dear Ronon..."

Said Satedan seemed quite uncomfortable when everyone sang that part, maybe because of the 'dear' in it.

"Happy birthday to you!"

John was by his side, quietly urging him to make a wish and blow out the candles so they could get on with stuffing their faces. I couldn't help the grin when Ronon looked at him blankly and John had to explain the wish part.

And how it wasn't to be repeated loudly or it wouldn't come true.

And then how it was just a tradition, and everyone knew their wish might not necessarily come true, anyway.

And then threaten to walk off and eat the cake himself if Ronon didn't stop asking questions and blow the damn candles out.

I was kind of glad I had Lt. Cadman manning a video camera, catching all this. Security feed be damned. I wanted a copy of that tape!

When he finally did blow the candle out, Rodney had already gotten the knife to cut the cake, but John decided to forego the birthday boy doing the cutting, when it came to Ronon and his fondness with knives. Instead, he was walking next to Ronon as they made their way to a table to set the cake on, for cutting.

Now, maybe Ronon meant it as a joke, or maybe he forgot just how strong he was, compared to the rest of us, but he suddenly decided to turn and clap John on the back. It was meant as a friendly pat, as if to say 'thanks, buddy', but John tripped from the force and ended up doing a face dive.

...Right into the cake.

I felt my jaw drop. I _saw_ Rodney's jaw drop and Teyla's eyebrows skyrocket. I saw Evan cover his mouth as a grin began to spread across his face. I heard Lt. Cadman snicker, and Carson's comment of 'oh, boy'. Ronon looked torn between mourning his lost cake, and laughing his ass off at John, as the Colonel slowly got up.

He stayed quiet as he looked down at himself.

His face was covered in cake and icing, and even as he cleared it out of his eyes, I had a feeling he'd be redder than a beet under it all. It clung to his hair, and his shirt, and the massive chunk of cake slowly slid down his chest to smear cake all over his uniform top, his arms, and down his pants.

...And maybe _down_ his pants.

My eyes began to water as I quickly covered my mouth. The room was dead silent except for the occasional snicker and hiccup of laughter. Wincing a little, Ronon grabbed a massive handful of napkins from shocked, and enjoying this entirely too much Rodney, and handed them to John.

"Uh, sorry?" He offered with one of his toothy grins, showing he wasn't really all _that_ sorry. Sticking his finger in a lump, he licked it off and seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Good cake."

John nodded quietly, his face carefully masked.

Shaking my head, I walked over and folded my arms over my chest, completely unable to fight the huge grin that crossed my face. "Colonel. Are you alright?"

Zelenka was muttering gibberish, and I realized it must have been his native language. Bubbles of hiccupped laughter kept escaping, but he'd promptly straighten his face, and try to look mournful, or at least sympathetic, only to end up laughing again.

John looked at me a long moment before nodding. Opening his mouth, he licked his lips and brushed his cake covered hands over his cake covered shirt. "Yeah, I'm...uh, fine."

Following Ronon's example, I slid a finger through the icing on his cheek, trying not to blush when I felt my finger rub against his cheek, itself, and licked my finger afterwards. "Mmmm. Ronon was right. This is good cake."

He nodded again. "Thanks." He took a step closer, his eyes narrowing.

Grinning a little, I tilted my head. "You know, that's a good look for you, John."

_Hmm... John _as_ dessert. Now _there's_ an idea._

Now one of his cake smeared eyebrows rose. "Really?" He began to smirk, and I felt my eyes narrow.

"John..." I slipped a warning tone in there, despite my being highly amused at the whole situation. "Don't you dare..."

I caught Ronon grinning and slipped him a slight glare for starting all this.

"Sorry Elizabeth." John stated loudly as he stepped forward. Reaching out, I felt his arms slide around my waist and pull.

"John!" Yes, I'll admit, I yelped. Not screeched, not squealed, but yelped. I felt myself fall forward, and the icy slick coldness of the cake crushing against my chest as my jaw dropped again. "Let me go!"

Cheers started up, and so did a bunch of wolf whistles. I felt my face heat up, even as the icing on the side of his neck brushed against my cheek. Then John did something totally unexpected.

Grabbing my cheeks with his hands, he pulled my head back and the next thing I knew, a pair of very sweet warm lips were being pressed against my own. I gasped, and felt my eyes widen, before they quickly shut as he pressed his face right against mine, smearing cake all over me. Still he kissed me and before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing him back.

_I wonder if I can get him to pop out of my cake on my birthday? Or maybe, repeat this _without_ a shirt? And maybe alone, without an audience?_

The wolf whistles and laughter brought me back to the present only seconds later, I guessed, and getting an idea, I ran a hand down his chest, collecting a big pile of cake. As he pulled away from the kiss, looking all too smug with himself, I grinned and reached out, reaching up the back of his shirt and smearing the cake all over his back, watching as he jumped around with a yelp, trying to dig the stuff back out.

_Yes. John loves sweets, but I have to say. I love John covered in sweets._

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So, um... John covered in cake. There's a thought.

This chapter was inspired by **ChiaraHhue** 's 'Just Desserts'. Have to love the idea of Colonel John Sheppard 'as' dessert, hmm??

Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	12. Prankster

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Sweet, huh? No pun intended, I'm sure. It was inspired by a story I read and I couldn't resist. LOL And hey, I had the perfect reason to have John kissing Elizabeth! ;)

**Charlie Blue** - I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was fun to write, and like I stated before, a sneaky way to give him a reason to kiss her, despite everyone being around. ;) LOL

Thank you, I was trying to go for the fact that he _does_ feel pain, even if he's not bawling his eyes out every time he loses someone. I was thinking about it in another fiction I'm writing, John's Really Bad Days, and he's lost so many people close to him. Sumner, Aiden, his father, Elizabeth, Carson, Teyla was kidnapped and gone for some time, Ronon was kidnapped and tortured, now even Rodney's going through pain, and John faces losing him, too (The Shrine, season 5), and then there's also Kate Heightmeyer (not sure how to spell her name), so he's lost a lot of people, and he somehow manages to keep going.

Thanks, guys, for sticking with this, I have more to come.

This one is another attempt at humor. Hope you like it. ;)

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Pranks.

John and his damn pranks.

Putting coffee liquor in Rodney's coffee. Ok, so that one was kind of funny, but Rodney singing at the top of his lungs, and really badly at that, was a bit over the top.

He once hid Ronon's blaster. He promptly had to hide himself for a week, when Ronon had found out _he_ was behind it.

I've never heard of him doing anything to Teyla, but then again, I think it's because… Well, there may have been many reasons, but the fact that he had daily sparring lessons with her, with the bantos sticks, might have made a big impact on that. She kicked his ass every day, anyway, so he really didn't want to piss her off, and get on her bad side.

Then again, I was a little confused as to why he'd want to risk Ronon's anger.

Rodney… Rodney was all talk, though I do recall John complaining about a shower that went ice cold halfway through.

Either way, he must have hit half of the staff by now. Sometimes it was general pranks. Something, a dye, in the juice that turned everyone's teeth blue. Or an itch powder in the tac vests of some of the marines.

Evan Lorne was growling for a week when John slipped Viagra in his bottle of orange juice. Though, I do have to admit, that was hilarious, and I think we _all _enjoyed the show. How the hell John got _Viagra_ on Atlantis is beyond me, but I suspect he had help.

I know Jack O'Neill's a good one for pranks, so I have my suspicions.

Hell, even Radek wasn't safe, but I'm not going to go into that one.

Now, John's obviously insane. I mean, why else would he not do anything to Teyla, risk trying Ronon, and then dare to try me?

Tapping my ear piece, I struggled not to let out the growl that was brewing in my throat. "Lt. Col. John Sheppard, report to my office, _now_." Wow, ok that impressed even me. Low and dangerous, but perfectly calm.

_Not only Atlantis' 'Kirk', but the resident prankster, too?_

Frowning, I sat behind my desk, tapping my pen as I waited for John to get there. I'd already fallen for his prank, but luckily, I had a few tricks up my sleeves. I pulled over some extra reports, that I'd luckily had hidden in a drawer, and went over them as I waited patiently.

Tapping my ear piece again, I fought off the urge to grin. "Rodney? It's Elizabeth. I need a favor…" Taking the time to explain an idea that had come to my head, I heard the grin in his voice as he agreed. Once I was done, I returned to the reports before putting them aside and returning to waiting.

But don't get me wrong, don't think I was just going to ignore what he pulled. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. I had a plan of my own, and with my fellow victims, I was certain it would go off well.

"Elizabeth?"

Looking up from my reports, I raised a careful eyebrow and nodded at the surprisingly sheepish looking John in my doorway. "Colonel." I watched his eyes widen briefly, and knew he understood he was in trouble. I very rarely called him by rank when we were alone, unless he was in trouble. "Nice of you to join me." Standing up, I watched as his eyes widened again and a look of confusion crossed his face. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh, no." John shook his head, staring at the back of my chair with a frown. "No, nothing."

Luckily, he couldn't see the seat from where he was standing, or he'd see the pair of pants I'd been wearing earlier, stuck to it still. Still, as I walked around the desk, his eyes narrowed at the pants I was wearing before a smirk tugged at his lips. "Something _funny_?" I allowed the warning to fill my voice as I picked up the small stack of reports.

He shook his head again, standing up straighter.

"John… You very obviously have too much time on your hands. And all this time? It's getting you into a _lot_ of trouble." I raised an eyebrow pointedly. "So I thought I'd give you a little help." Walking over, I pushed the tack of reports into his hands. "Evaluation reports, and I want _more_ than 'above average's on them, understood?"

The look on his face was priceless, but he nodded anyways before turning and walking off.

Turning back, I stared at my chair and gave the pants an experimental tug. Nope, not moving. Then I turned to my desk and gave an empty coffee mug a tug. Same problem. A small stack of, luckily, unimportant papers… Same thing.

John had decided to glue my things to my desk, as well as gluing my ass to my chair. I was _very_ lucky I had an extra pair of pants.

Sitting on my pants, I called Radek and made plans for him to come get my things off my desk, and get me a new chair. While explaining what happened, and the result I was waiting on, I went over more 'ideas' that came to me.

Suddenly, ear piece or not, I clearly heard a familiar voice.

"_Elizabeth!_"

Raising an eyebrow and grinning broadly, I quickly mentioned hiding all the glue dissolvent in Atlantis before closing the connection.

It was remarkable, really. I don't think I've ever heard John 'roar' like that, before. HE had to have been taking lessons from Ronon. I wondered if he'd thought to keep an extra pair of pants in his office, too, or not. And if not, how long he'd be stuck to _his_ chair.

_Hm, John may be on to something._ I thought as I grinned. _This is kinda fun._

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Hope you like it. (Giggles hysterically)

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	13. Smart Ass

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Well in this one, pun _totally_ intended. LOL I can just image Ronon going on a hunting trip through Atlantis, glaring and growling and _demanding_ to know where his blaster is. LOL. Ok, now I'm laughing too. Just the image of Evan walking around growling angrily as he tried to hide his, um..._reaction_ to the viagra. Just hope he had a jacket or towel or something. LOL! Thank you, I'm glad you loved it.

This one is also supposed to be pretty cute. And honestly, I think it belongs in another fiction I'm writing, John's Really Bad Days, but I have a different idea for him getting shot in the ass in that story, soooo...

**Charlie Blue** - It seemed like the perfect way for Elizabeth to get some revenge, and honestly, I don't see her either just getting angry and yelling, or sitting back and taking it. Funny thing is, he left Teyla out of it, but went after _Ronon_ the big hulking Satedan. Hmm... LOL.

Here's the next chapter, another one that should get at least a smile. And if you like puns, you have to check out **Negolith**'s Hot Crossed Buns.

**Disclaimer** : I DON"T OWN ANYTHING! If I did, it would be mandatory for all the guys to walk around shirtless on Atlantis, and they would NOT have cancelled the show at 5 (or is it 6?) seasons!

ENJOY!

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_Colonel Smart Ass._

That's really what I should start calling him, in private, at least. Public, probably not such a good idea, but private... Well, the name suited him. You should see him when he gets going with Rodney, or some of his comments to his enemies.

I still had the feed of him speaking to our prisoner Wraith, way back when we first came to Atlantis. When we first caught an actual Wraith. I couldn't help but want to look back, the idea the Wraith were so terrifying back then, and how John came up and spoke cockily to him. He was such a smartass.

I think...that's one of the things I enjoy the most about John. Watching him banter with Rodney. Rodney was actually considered a genius and fairly good at being a smartass, but John was up there with the best of them.

_No matter what situation._

If it was a good, calm time, those smart ass moments seemed to flow every couple of minutes, usually in a joking sense. In a more harried time, or when John was in a bad mood, it was more crisp and blunt, usually meant more as vicious insults. Then, even when things were grim, he still managed to pull these comments out of nowhere, for comic relief, maybe?

Now, he'd never really been much of a smart ass with me. Oh, sure, he had his moments, but it wasn't that often, or as severe. Probably because he was all too aware I was easy going to a point, but I was also the base commander, and if he crossed the line, I could have him demoted to Private before he could blink.

Rodney, not so much. He could be a smart ass, he could be nasty, he could complain, but he couldn't actually get John in trouble, and that was the problem. John was all too aware of that fact.

_They're _always_ at it!_

I wasn't even in the infirmary, not two hours after John had been found and was being treated and I could already hear him and Rodney going at it. I really don't want to think about that, though, as John is "Supposed to be resting."

They all looked over at me and I raised an eyebrow at John, who had the sense to look a little sheepish.

"Ah, there you are, Elizabeth." Rodney walked over to my side. "I was just telling the Colonel how it was finally nice not being the _only_ one to have been shot in the ass with an arrow."

I nodded, having already picked up that much.

"And it hurts, Rodney, yes, I know. You don't need to keep reminding me."

"Oh, it hurts?" He was obviously mocking John, trying to pull an innocent tone and expression. Still, there was a small sense of worry behind his eyes, and he frowned.

I frowned, too, certain Carson should have given John something for the pain by now. He was lying on his stomach, covered by a sheet, but I could see a small blood stain on the curve of his backside. Quickly, I looked away, realizing I was staring.

"Oh I don't know. Why don't you come here, I'll stab you with the arrow, and you tell me if it hurts." John put in with a glare, even though his tone was easy going, as if he was talking about the weather.

_Smart ass. See?_

"No thank you. Been there, done that, got the scar."

"Oh really?" I watched him turn to me. "And all I got was the lousy t-shirt." I saw John open his mouth to say something and realized that, what I just said could have been taken a number of ways. Clearing my throat, I looked at him pointedly. "Don't mind me for _butting_ in, Colonel..." I grinned as he rolled his eyes and shook his head with a groan. "Is the pain _rear_ing it's ugly head?"

Ronon and Rodney grinned almost evilly, and I began to feel bad, wondering if I'd given them too much ammunition. Teyla looked lost, thankfully, but I had a feeling that with those boys, she'd pick it up sooner, rather than later. "I'll call Carson to get his _ass_ over here and give you some pain medication." I told John with a small smirk before turning and leaving.

For a moment, I hesitated outside Carson's door, wondering if I wanted to stick around to see John as loopy as Rodney was, when he'd been shot in the ass with an arrow, and then drugged. Part of me knew that if I did, I'd probably never stop laughing, or let him live it down, and I did have important work to be done. After informing Carson of John's condition and requesting pain medication other than morphine, I headed off to my office, formulating several common comments I could make, to remind John of...this predicament.

_Hey. He's not the only smart _ass_ on Atlantis._

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Hope you like it.

Ok, the puns were ideas I got from 'Hot Crossed Buns', by **Negolith**. They just seemed to fit.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	14. Arms

**Charlie Blue** - LOL, **Negolith**'s fic had me laughing and I loved it. That chapter was stuck in my head ever since. I'm glad you liked it.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - I like Lorne too, myself.

**Negolith** - LOL What can I say? Look what your story inspired. LOL. I've very glad you liked it. :)

Ok, so this one was in my head. Has anyone ever seen those shows where the guys line up and flex their muscles for hours? The one where they get prizes for being super muscled and stuff? Well this fic had the image in my mind of the boys flexing away. So, um, enjoy. (Giggles)

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John's got...very impressive arms.

Sure, they're not super muscled, but as I'm sure I've said before, too much muscle can be a bad thing. I mean, just look at Lorne. He's not exactly super pumped, but he's bigger than John, and I don't really care for that. Same with Ronon.

They're good-looking guys, don't get me wrong.

Watching them spar, you can really... Well, we're having a competition, of sorts. More or less for morale. It's kind of like UFC, only _hopefully_ with less injuries. Either way, Carson's standing on the sidelines with some of his team, his expression grim, and eyeing Ronon as if he's really not happy he's there.

Probably because Ronon has a habit of tossing our people around like rag dolls, and hurting them, even though he doesn't mean to.

_Oh, look. There goes another one. _

But where was I? Oh, yeah. John's arms.

When they're fighting, you can see the muscles flexing under the skin, and here, I'm _not_ just talking about arms, though it's more pronounced there. Ronon has no problem throwing the marines over him, as if they were feather light. That kind of strength honestly makes me uneasy. Thank god, he's on our side!

_Wow, I didn't realize those boys could fly._

Then you have Lorne. He has a little more trouble with the hand to hand combat, and tends to put more play on boxing, but still... When he bends his arms, these muscles come up out of nowhere, and I just don't think it's a...nice look. Ok, so it suits him, but I just don't care for it.

Rodney... Well, he knew better than to even try this competition. He's here, in a t-shirt, watching it, though, and smirking as he shouts out to John that he'll never win against Ronon.

They're not even at that stage yet. They're in what we call 'qualifying' rounds. They beat out the competition, before they're paired up against each other, and whoever wins the whole thing, gets tomorrow off and extra dessert in the kitchen.

But even Rodney's got muscle. Surprisingly. I always thought he was a little bit chubby myself, but with his arms folded, the strength in them is a little more pronounced. Again, not my thing.

Ok, so I'm sitting by the door, watching things go over. Ronon easily defeats yet another opponent, helping them up at the last minute and patting them on the back. Same goes for Lorne, although it's a little less harshly.

John, he's still sparring against Stackhouse. His shirt is dripping wet, and he's moving low to the mat, making himself a harder target to hit. Suddenly, he leaps forward and wraps his arms around his opponent, spinning him in place and catching him in a headlock. His hands are linked behind Stackhouse's head, and his arms flexing with hidden muscles as he keeps a good hold.

His shirt has risen up, baring the flesh on the side of his stomach, and I can feel my eyes drawn to it and the tiny bit of exposed black hairs, before I shake myself out of it, returning to his upper body. His face is stern, but his eyes sparkle with triumph, and he squeezes his arms as Stackhouse admits defeat.

Letting the younger man go, John helps him up. With his arms straight, and not curled so tightly, they look long and lean, like the rest of him, but with a hint of muscle still visible.

I like that.

He's strong, you can see it. But he's not overly powerful, like Ronon and Lorne, I like that, too. His arms are built to work with his body. Long and lean, like his legs, like his body. Nothing is out of proportion.

"Nice one, buddy." He claps Ronon on the back, the muscles in his arm flexing from the action. Panting, he turns towards the 'audience' and smiles, nodding to people here and there. Then, turning back, he pulls off his shirt.

_Oh, wow_.

John's nice arms are attached to a nice back. It's slick and shiny with sweat, and the muscles are very visible. I can't help but let my eyes wander as he stretches his arms over his head, earning wolf whistles from the crowd.

Turning back around, his eyes seem to scan everyone, looking for something. His now fully visible, hairy chest gets him even more whistles, and he's got the sense to blush. He looks down at his shirt and shakes his head, his expression clearly stating he wished he'd never taken it off.

Then he glances back out and his eyes land on me. He stops looking around, was it me he was looking for? His blush gets more intense as I can't help myself and my eyes rake over his form, lingering on the defining planes of his arms, before I raise an eyebrow and return my gaze to his face.

He's grinning now, as he nods once, winks and turns away.

Dropping his shirt, he stretches again, and I can't help but think he's doing it on purpose. First, his arms go back over his head, stretching and pulling the muscles taught. Then, they go behind his back, curling them up to define the muscles a little more.

He seems to ignore the whistles and cat calls.

I feel my giggles want to surface, as he reminds me of those body builders, and how they would go into dramatic poses to flex and show off their muscles.

Next his hands go to his hips as he twists his upper torso side to side, and I'm drawn to the smaller muscles in his lower arms, near his wrists, and how they twist, as well.

Ronon's asking him what the hell he's going, and I can't help the small bubble of laughter as John blushes deeply and explain it's a form of stretching, to help keep the pulled muscles to a minimum.

So, Ronon followed his lead, and Lorne decided to jump in. What was once a fighting competition, turned into a full blown show of male dominance as the boys kept 'stretching' and trying to out do each other.

Teyla was standing next to Rodney, deep in conversation. Probably trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Me, I was laughing hysterically, as quietly as possible. Oh, don't worry, I wasn't the only one. I think several of the girls figured out what they were _really_ doing, and the cat calls really began to grow.

The more stretching the boys did, after all their fighting, the more I noticed their muscles were more visible than usual, and it hit me, they were swollen from the fighting. Not in a bad way, but as in 'pumped up'. More defined.

And I noticed that John's muscles were more visible all the time. Part of me wanted to walk over and run my hands over them, to see how they felt, but instead I settled for watching and day dreaming about being held in those arms.

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	15. Scars

**Charlie Blue** - Oh trust me, I'm not fond of body builders myself. I just was going for the effect of having John, Ronon and Lorne all flexing away for the audience, though trying to pass it off as 'stretching'. LOL. Yeah, I've also got 'Chest' coming, and 'Legs'. Oh, and more... LOL.

Hm, oiled up Rick and Joe flexing away? I'm glad you like it. :)

**Tinypennie** - One of the first things I look at is the eyes. I'm glad you like it, I'm trying to find every angle to write chapters on John.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - LOL I do like Lorne, I was just going for the effect that he's got more muscle than John. I think they're both hot. Besides, guys all sweaty and flexing? HAD to have Lorne in there, too! LOL Glad you liked it! :)

**Kal** - Thank you for your review to this chapter. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how I feel about beta readers, and I've never done it before, so I'm kind of nervous. When it comes to my mistakes, I'm always willing to go back and learn from them. I never got a chance to watch all the early episodes, now that I think of it, because I don't have access to a TV and the early ones I can't find on a site anywhere to watch for free.

Also, when it comes to my mistakes, I rely on my readers pointing them out, so I can go back and fix them, and remember for future use as I go. I may have problems in my timeline in places, I will try to keep them as close to acurate as possible, but I make no guarantees. I hope you enjoy this story, otherwise, and please feel free to point out errors.

And here's my next update! :)

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_There._

As he turned away, John unconsciously bared the very thing I was looking for. Raised and very slightly tinted purple, the scar ran along the right side of his throat. It usually hid just under the collar of his shirt, and wasn't very pronounced, but if you knew what to look for, it was there.

_The Iratus bug._

We hadn't been in the Pegasus Galaxy for only a few hours when we met the Athosians and Teyla, along with several others, including Colonel Sumner, were taken prisoner by a rogue group of Wraith. In that time, split second decisions were made, and a domino effect was set into motion.

_They killed the Queen in charge, _John_ killed the Queen in charge._

That ended up waking up hundreds, if not thousands of other Wraith and the war for our survival began. John's encounter with the Wraith on an off world mission was the very reason for that scar. He'd been running through the woods, backwards, trying to watch for the Wraith stunner blasts, but unfortunately, he hadn't seen the Iratus bug hanging from the tree until he backed into it.

_Constant agony._

That had been how he described it. Every little thing the others did to remove it caused him agony, and only ended up weakening him further as it drew more blood from him to heal. In the end, he'd had to have his heart stopped in order to get it off him, and it almost didn't start up again.

Turning back towards Teyla and Ronon, John continued to talk to them, for all intents and purposes, completely unaware of my stare. He flashed a grin at Teyla as Ronon made a face and cuffed him in the shoulder, playfully, and they all laughed. Raising his arm to rub at the arm, his half unbuttoned blue shirt fell to the side, showing he was not wearing a shirt beneath it.

I felt my face heat up as I stared at the exposed bit of flesh, along with the black hairs that crossed his chest, and another small scar.

That one made me wince as I recalled how he'd gotten it. Kolya, that bastard! He'd managed to capture John, and allowed a _Wraith_ to feed on him, in order to try and bribe me into giving him Ladon Radim, who'd betrayed him and taken over the position of the Genii, becoming an ally of ours in the process. Albeit, a somewhat tentative one.

_I would have agreed, too, if it hadn't been for John._

He lowered his arm and re-adjusted his shirt before turning in my direction, immediately, I turned my attention to a small pad I was carrying.

He'd insisted that we not hand over Ladon, despite the pain he was in. I had to watch with my very own eyes as the Wraith fed on him again and again, until he was on the brink of death. It was a shock, that the Wraith ended up giving him back his life. I didn't understand it, but I was beyond grateful.

Still, seeing his face twisted in agony, and hearing his muffled shouts as he was fed on, I shuddered and tried to bite back the tears. I'd been helpless to stop it all. No, if I'd given over Ladon...

_They still would have killed him._

"Elizabeth?"

Jumping and gasping in surprise, I looked up to see John walk over, buttoning up his shirt and looking concerned.

"Are you alright?"

His eyes seemed to bore into my own, almost sparkling with the life they contained. It helped to reassure me he was alive, but it did little to reassure me of all that he'd been through. More than once, he came much too close to death's door.

Nodding absently, I tried to smile and hoped it didn't come out as weak as it felt.

His concerned look only seemed to grow. "Ok, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I shook my head, trying to gain control of my emotions. "I just have a lot of work to do, that's all."

"Right. Elizabeth, I think I know you well enough to know when something's bothering you." His tone was casual, but his expression told me he wasn't playing games.

"John, please..."

"What's wrong." Maybe he had no idea how painful it was to think about it all, but I knew he wasn't going to let it go.

"Carson let you out already?" I asked, hoping to change the subject. My eyes landed on his now covered chest and I felt my hand twitch, resisting the urge to reach out and run my hands over the scar I knew lay beneath the material.

He frowned and nodded. "Yeah, the Wraith healed me, fully. Doesn't look like he even stole one year."

This made me raise an eyebrow. "A Wraith...?" I'm sure my tone explained how confused I was. Not about the Wraith himself, I already knew about all that, but about him giving John back _all_ of his life.

Shrugging, John dug his hands into his pocket after waving for me to take a walk with him. "Don't think you're getting out of it. You still have to tell me what's wrong."

He wasn't normally one to pry, which made me wonder what he saw that caught his attention. "I was just thinking about...all of this." I found myself saying. "Everyone's always getting hurt, and I feel so helpless here."

"You're doing great." He stopped and took my arm a moment. "Elizabeth, you can't save people by giving the bad guys what they want."

"No, but I could have done a better job stalling him."

Now he looked like he understood fully and he absently ran a hand over his chest. "_That's_ what this is about." Sighing loudly, John looked at me. "You can't blame yourself for me getting hurt. I was careless on that part, and it was bound to happen."

Shaking my head, I continued to walk on, and try to ignore the guilt that ate at me. He kept trying to reassure me, and I listened half heartedly nodding now and then, but I was lost in thought.

_It doesn't help that those scars are always going to be there to remind me of what happened._

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	16. Chest

**Kal** - I responded to your review in the last chapter, and changed it to what you mentioned. I'm sorry if anything is wrong in the timeline. I don't have ready access to most of the episodes, besides the fifth season, and what I am writing I am either doing from memory, or from what I've read in other fictions. Trust me, I even had their names spelled wrong, before. Just feel free to let me know if I make anymore mistakes, and I will do what I can to fix them.

**Charlie Blue** - It annoys me that they only made him shirtless rarely in the show. But yeah, I did notice there was never any scar, and you'd expect there to be. If they have any episodes of John shirtless in season 5, keep an eye out... Bet he won't have the scars from being fed on by a Wraith, or where he was stabbed by the pole in Search and Rescue, or where he was stabbed by the tentacle/vine thing in The Seed, etc, etc... I'm not a scar person, either, but I agree with you that some scars can be considered sexy. I think John would wear them well.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - When I write these things, I try to imagine them happening with the actual characters. It's run through in my mind, and that's where I get my descriptions and ideas. I can see Elizabeth being haunted by what happened, but not being able to easily forgive herself, despite John's reassurances.

OMG! There's a petition to sign to help save SGA! Check out the Gateworld site, under news, in the comments, or send me a message and I'll send you the link!! I'd post the link here, but they won't let me post links :( (No guarantees, but I seriously hope it works!)

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There's a lot to think about, when it comes to Atlantis. Reports come in about docking ports in the water, at the edges of the city, along with requests to turn them into man-made beaches. There are huge, stable balconies, perfect for stargazing, or playing golf off of. Hell, someone found a metal step in one of the store rooms, and dragged it to the back of the lunch room, using it as a make shift stage for performances.

What was left up to me? Not the exciting discoveries. Not the ideas and excitement in hoping they'll be approved.

No, thinking of the pros and cons of each one. I allowed the make shift stage in the lunch room, because people needed a morale booster. I allowed the balconies, again, because we could use morale boosts every now and then.

The beach? There were a lot of cons to that, but I didn't really want to dismiss it so easily? If anyone would ask, my reason was that again, it could be perfect for morale. The truth? Purely selfish, I could get to see John shirtless more often.

Have you _seen_ that man's chest?

That was...one of the up sides to working closely with him off world. The first time, I didn't notice it, because it had happened during the day the jumper got caught in the event horizon of the stargate. You know, when he had the Iratus bug attached to his neck.

Kind of hard to enjoy that, when he's surrounded by people struggling to get him to breathe again.

But the second time.. The one on the planet with the nasty storm. I'd slipped in the mud, and when he tried to help me up, he got muddy, too. Of course, I was nagging at him for bringing me to a planet during a bad storm, but in all honesty, it had come up out of nowhere, too fast to keep track of.

Either way, I was treated to the sight of John sighing loudly, cursing, and pulling off his muddy shirt, to shake it out. He's so long and lean, but he's got a nice broad chest, that's nicely muscled, too. Not a tight six pack, or perfectly flat belly. There's the tiniest bit of roundness to him, but yes, there are muscles, too. And the hair.. I'm not one for hairy men, I'm sure I've stated that before. I always prefered my guys clean shaven, but John's got a chest...

Feeling my fact heat up, I struggled to focus on the reports.

But the image of the water trickling down his chest, over his black hair and abs, and the grimace on his face as he slipped again and landed back in the mud, shirtless this time, was just too much to pass up.

"Damn!" Cursing to myself, I closed my eyes, rubbed the bridge of my nose, and turned my attention back to the reports in front of me. "Cons. Too much bacteria in the water, unknown alien life forms..." Pausing a moment, I thought about it before typing. "Bad place to be in times of attack. Out of communications range, if someone is ever needed." Frowning, I tried to tell myself that it was a really bad idea.

The fact was, I was thinking about it like I was dealing with children. These were highly trained marines. If ever attacked, they'd know where their positions were, and how to get to them the fastest. Also, Zalenka had said it would be no problem to adjust the communications to add to these areas...

It was probably a bad idea, and I was all too aware of that. There were too many variables to count, really.

In the end, I okayed it in the report, and got it ready to send off to the SGC. I explained we could use all the morale boosts we could get, at the moment, but in all actuality, I knew John would be the first to spend all his free time there, and I was looking forward to that.

_Speaking of which_... Getting up, I set my things carefully on my desk before heading out. I made my way down the stairs and to the nearest transporter. There, I took it to the other side of Atlantis, to a new area opened up by the city's expanding shields, and walked alone the hallways, wrinkling my nose at the smell of salt. _This place needs to be cleaned._ It really was amazing how Atlantis hadn't rusted at all, after 10 000 years under water.

It took me maybe 15 minutes by foot, to make it to the new docks that were opened up, and just as I'd suspected, there was one single form in the water.

"Even without permission. Why am I not surprised?" I walked over to the pile of clothing on the dock, and the towel and pursed my lips. Gathering it all up, I watched as the dark head with flattened out hair backstroked in my direction. "Hello, John." I called slightly, watching him spin in surprise.

Even under the water, I could make out his naked chest, and felt my face heat up. Luckily, the water only let you see so far, as I was holding _all_ his clothes.

"Having fun?" Innocent. I was playing innocent. Looking at him a moment, I watched as he gaped, looking from my face with a sheepish blush, to the pile of clothing I was holding, with what looked like suspicion. "Funny, I don't remember approving this place as a beach, yet." _Though that wasn't about to stop him._ And I knew it.

"I, uh..." Looking at me a moment, his eyes narrowed. "I knew you would. I mean, for morale boost."

"Morale." I pretended to look thoughtful. "We already have party nights, the decks and balconies, performances in the lunch room, days off. Why would we need any more morale boosting?"

He remained treading water where he was, staring at me a moment with a look that was torn between cocky and worried.

"But you're right. I approved it."

I saw him begin to grin.

"But you were already here, _before_ I approved it. So, you disregarded my orders."

His grin faded.

"And you need to be punished."

His eyes narrowed even more.

Turning on my heel, I began walking back to the hallway. "Enjoy your swim!" I called out over my shoulder. As I entered the hallway, I heard splashes of water.

"Elizabeth!" John's voice tinged on massive humiliation, and anger. "Come back here with my clothes!"

I kept walking, pretending not to hear him. More splashes, and I was aware of feet chasing after me. "_Elizabeth!_"

Now I broke out into a grin, the grin just spreading across my face. I knew he was butt naked. I was carrying his shirt, pants, towel and _boxers_. The only thing I'd left behind was his socks and shoes. Quickly, I made my way to the transporter and hit the button to open it. Climbing in, I knew I'd have to turn around and blushed deeply as I did so.

_Well, I was right._ I thought as the doors closed on John's almost pleading face. _He was naked._

And if I thought his chest was nice before, that was nothing compared to a totally naked John. Shaking like a leaf, I struggled not to laugh as I climbed out of the transporter. Quickly, before he could activate it, I turned it off, leaving him stranded with only the by foot route to take back to the main tower. That would make sure John would have to pass several rooms, the lunch room, and it's lunch time, a few of the labs, and the gate room.

For a moment, I stared at the crystals, thinking about being nice and turning the transporter back on, and leaving his clothes just outside the door.

"If I go easy on him, he'll never learn." I mused out loud. "But if I pull this, I'll have him planning some sort of really evil revenge." Pursing my lips, I turned the transporter back on and placed his clothes outside of it before turning and walking briskly back to my office. "I'd rather have him never learn."

Forget the cons, there was no real point to deny the beach, and I honestly didn't want to. I just hoped Jack would see it the same way as me.

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Oh, flashing John, anyone? LOL.

Hope you like it. It's rated 'T' so not _too_ many details on what she was seeing. LOL

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	17. Fear

Can't write review replies for the last chapter in this one. On a different and tempermental connection. I will reply to reviews in the next update.

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_Do you know...how it feels...when someone you care about spends more time in the infirmary than anywhere else?_

"We really need to make you a 'Home Sweet Home' sign." I muttered absently as I looked down into the peaceful face of John Sheppard. "And maybe bring you a few things to make it more...homey."

Of course, he didn't respond. I honestly, didn't expect him to. Here, holding his hand, I was allowed a rare glance at his most peaceful side. Funnily enough, it only appeared when he was asleep or unconscious. Now? He was unconscious, drugged by Carson after coming back from a mission with a blast wound to his back. He was really lucky it wasn't any worse, still, Carson did have to operate.

_Why do you insist on constantly scaring the hell out of me?!_

I stroked the back of his limp hand, watching the hairs compress against the smooth, tanned skin, before popping right back up. His hand was warm and soft, despite the callouses on his fingers, and it reassured me he was alive. "How many times does this make, now?" Shaking my head, I sighed and let go of his hand to wipe at my eyes. How long had I been awake, standing at his bed side? Too long. My eyes felt like lead. Still, I couldn't leave. I didn't _want_ to leave.

"The Wraith and Genii really have it in for you." I stated with a wry look. "Why am I not surprised? This must make a good couple dozen visits by now." I raised an eyebrow. "And knowing you, you'd say I was over reacting."

His eyes were closed, a small cut above one eyebrow and a bruise on one side of his chin. His hair was still spiked, not surprising, and had little bits of dirt in it.

"Damn it John!" Shaking my head, I wanted to... I... I don't know what I wanted. I was scared, hurt, I wanted to stop him from going through the gate again. And funny enough, I had the power, but I knew it would be the wrong thing to do. We needed him, he knew that. He'd fight, _I_ knew that. "Why can't you be more careful? I swear, I'm going to be completely grey before the year is out!"

This time it had been a blaster in the back, from an upset, hostile civilian. Why he was upset, Ronon surmised it was something to do with John being 'Kirky' with one of the cute local girls. Rodney suggested it might have been a traitor, or a spy working for the Genii. Teyla insisted it was a random attack, and there was no real reason to chose John, except that he was from another planet and seemed to be the leader of their team.

I wouldn't have been surprised if it turned out to be any of the three reasons. "Which was it, John? Attacked for flirting with a girl?" I felt my heart ache at that. "Because the guy was a spy? Or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" How often did that end up happening with his team?

How often have I come down here, scared out of my mind, to find John was the one with the worst injuries?

_Maybe you just have bad luck?_

Part of me wanted to send a second team with them, as added protection, but I wondered if John would allow that. And even if he did, what guarantee did I have that the other team wouldn't just end up decimated, anyways? Sometimes, I found it all overwhelming. So many people who's lived depended on my decisions. But, sometimes I didn't have any say.

The dangers lay in the other planets, but they also lay in space, our own home world, and on Atlantis, too.

I recalled the Iratus bug, and saw the scar John still had because of it. Running my hand over the raised bit of flesh absently, I watched as John seemed to shiver a little and bit my lip thoughtfully. "We almost lost you that day." _And then with the Genii who let a _Wraith_ feed on you. _I was aware my voice sounded hoarse, and I felt tears beginning to build up in my eyes. Then, running my hand through his hair, I saw a couple gray strands and sucked in a breath. Only this time, it was because I was trying not to laugh. "Well, looks like I won't be the only one to turn gray, at least."

"I...resent that."

Jumping away from the bed, I bumped into a tray that was, luckily, empty. It rolled a little from my weight being pushed against it, but otherwise did not cause a lot of noise. I was thankful for that, it was late at night and most people were sleeping. The night staff were in the other room, and had agreed to let me stay until he either woke up, or I was exhausted.

John slowly blinked his eyes open, looking for all the world like he was wrestling himself out of a pretty good dream. "Eliz..abeth?"

The way he halted in saying my name made my heart clench in fear again. Was he really that bad? Walking carefully forward, I watched as his eyes slid over me, and forced a grin to my face. "No, John, you resemble that." I stated, feeling a little relieved he was actually awake.

Giving his infamous crooked grin, John waggled his eyebrows before wincing a little. "So, what happened?"

"You tell me. The others say you were shot, though no one really knows why."

He frowned before struggling to sit up, only to wince again. "Ouch."

"Ok, John. No moving. That's an order."

"Not comfortable." He grumbled sleepily.

I looked at him a moment and got that he wanted to roll over, probably because he was lying flat on his stomach. "You were shot in the back, John." This time my tone was softer. Taking another step forward, I hesitantly reached out and touched the back of his hand, only to have mine grabbed by it.

"In the back??" He seemed almost offended. "The guy shot me in the _back_?! What a coward!"

_Of course you'd focus on that, of all things._

"Yeah, well... Reasons for him shooting you at all seem to suggest the guy was..."

"A coward!" he insisted with a frown, linking his fingers through mine.

I felt my face heat up and sighed.

"Sorry, for scaring you." He sounded more alert now, and worried. "You look like hell, Elizabeth."

_Stop scaring me then. Stop coming home on a stretcher._

"Thanks." I muttered sarcastically. "It's good to see you too." Rolling my eyes, I hesitated a moment longer. "Are you alright?"

"Not comfortable." John repeated with a shrug and wince.

"I can get the nurse to give you something for the pain."

He shook his head. "Only hurts when I move."

"Then like I said before, don't move."

_My fear makes it that I only hurt when I breathe. Do you even know what you do to us here, when you come back in such awful shape??_

Grinning a little, he looked at me. "How long have you been here?" His eyes were filled with warmth and concern.

I looked away, at a clock on the wall, before slowly looking back. "A...little while." By the clock, I'd been here 8 hours since the nurses forced the rest of the team to get rest. They hadn't been injured, and argued, but in the end, left. They were actually due to return at any point, since the early roster started within the next 45 minutes.

Maybe the hitch in my voice told him something, but John's eyes narrowed. "When was the last time you ate, or slept?"

"Last night." I stated truthfully, not wanting to say that, it had been about 20 hours ago. I hadn't eaten all day, I was so focused on my work, and then this came up before I could get myself dinner.

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled loudly and I felt my face heat up as I covered it with my free hand.

John busted up laughing and winced when it must have pulled at the injury on his back. With a sigh, and sparkling amusement in his eyes, he pouted playfully at me. "Ok, you need to go get something to eat."

I gave him a look and he raised his free hand.

"No, no. Listen. This is purely selfish. If you go, you can get me something, too, right? _Anything's_ better than infirmary food!"

Now it was my turn to laugh a little. Trust John to think like that. I knew that wasn't the real reason, but I nodded a little, reassured by his joking nature more than anything else.

_Still, I can't help but wonder when I'll be here next, standing over his bed again, just as scared, if not more so, than I was today._

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Ok, so maybe 'Fear' wasn't a good label for this one. I wanted to focus on how he's always injured, and Elizabeth's thoughts on that, and her fears every time he comes back, so badly injured.

I started this very late at night, so I was dead tired. Hopefully some of that work came out half decent, I thought it wasn't bad.

Hope you like it

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	18. Cute

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Well I find that sometimes, the more I think about something, the better I get at picturing it, and the better I get into the character's head. It helps me to write in their perspective, and understand their words and thoughts better. For the petition on petitionspot, you just type in your name, or any name you chose, and then your email, and hit the button underneath and you've signed it. There's already over 21 000 signatures on that site.

Sometimes I do tend to get confusing, because I have several ways to get the story going, and they all try to come out at once, LOL. As long as you understood it ok, that's good. Just let me know if anything confuses, and I'll try to fix it. :)

Hmmm... I have no idea, LOL. His dream...is for him to know and us to write whatever we want and play around with it. LOL!

**Charlie Blue** - I know! I like the tiny bit of roundness. He's not really muscled and it helps to make him seem more real, rather than the muscle heads who seem like steroid freaks, they are so big. Ah well, we can always use our imagination. Not to mention... I found a pic of Joe in nothing but boxers online, so... Muse fuel right there. LOL! It's ok, I'm not as into Rick as Joe, but I do see what you mean, he is a very good looking man. nd yes, I agree. He's not overly muscled or overly hairy, and it suits him, really. LMAO Hairy Robby Williams? O.o Ok, (goes to picture of boxer-clad Joe)... MUCH better! (P.S Did you notice he wasn't only SHIRTless? LOL!)

I'm glad the chapter title was ok, I wasn't sure. I was going more for her inner thoughts and more private actions that Atlantis never shows us. And yet, still try to keep it in character. :) Hope you slept well.

Thank you all for sticking with me and I'm glad you like it so far!

Oh, and I don't know the ages of the characters, so I'm basically guessing.

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John Sheppard, 41 years old, though he really didn't look it. He could be really serious when he wanted to, but those times were few and far between, when Atlantis and her people weren't in trouble.

If I had to use a word to describe John, well…. It would depend on my mood, and how things were, at the time.

Sometimes, the only word that I could possibly just to describe him was 'cute'.

Yeah, you're probably wondering what I mean. John, an adult, military officer, cute?

Trust me, when he gets into trouble, you haven't seen his face when he tries to get out of it. He's got this thing for pouting, rolling out his bottom lip to pronounce it more, and giving big puppy dog eyes up through his eyelashes.

Not to mention those damn dimples!

Look at the time he disobeyed my orders, when we had the outbreak through Atlantis. An infected person was heading my way, this was so long ago, I forget who that was now, and because John went after him, he ended up switching his direction and ending up in the filled lunchroom. John had been in so much trouble, but I couldn't be as severe on him as I wanted, because of his expression.

Ok, so that time he wasn't really playing around, or pouting so much.

But the time he angered some natives on P7M-643, when he accidentally repeated something McKay had said, louder and in their hearing, the pout on his face was the strongest yet. Hell, he'd even included a small, shy smile, for effect.

Needless to say, I had to go back and endure a whole pile of rituals to get back on their good sides again.

Then there was the time he was forced to prance around in a short, leather…dress, that the people of yet another allied world used, to participate in a ceremony. He'd been mortified about it, but Ronon, Lorne and Rodney kept bugging him about it.

"I never knew the Col. had such nice legs."

"Oh come on, Sheppard, you loved it."

"Col. John Sheppard in a dress… Hmm, very interesting."

"Hey!" He'd turned a cute shade of pink, and the embarrassed look on his face as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

Actually, it _was_ interesting, but for the sake of his mortification, I decided no to comment on that.

Today... It's his outfit and hair.

We're having another casual day. We'd started it, once a month days off, in order to help our people relax, and we allowed for casual wear because I knew the uniform thing could stress some people out, or be a constant reminder of their office, and job.

Me, I was in a pair of black jogging pants, and a purple tank top, relaxing in the training room after a good run. I was hot, sweaty and trying to relax a little, see if I could meditate for a bit before returning to my room to change.

So, imagine my surprise when John Sheppard joined me.

Well, I don't know if he was trying to meditate or not, but he sat quietly next to me, and when I looked at him, he had his eyes closed. I took that opportunity to get a look at him.

He wore slightly baggy, dark blue jeans, with a grey button down shirt, and a black sweater that was really baggy and the sleeves covered his hands, to his knuckles. His hair was even more messy then usual, and I noticed his five o'clock shadow was slightly more pronounced than usual.

It gave him a more scruffy look then I was used to, and the outfit made him look boyish.

_Definitely cute._

I didn't realize I was staring until his green eyes slowly opened, really contrasting compared to his black hair, and his head slowly turned to me. Seeing my look, he gave a tiny crooked grin and raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Just not used to seeing..." I caught myself before saying 'you', as I'd seen him in casual wear before. It was just still a little odd. "My people in casual wear." I plucked at my tank top, being disturbingly aware I probably stank. "Or being in it, myself."

He chuckled a little and nodded. "Yeah, I know how you feel. It's...awkward, being out of uniform."

"That's a bad thing, you know." I quipped with as much of a serious expression as I could pull off. "It's supposed to be the other way around."

"Then we've all got the same problem." He answered with a big grin.

Shaking my head, I slowly stood up. "I better get going. If I'm lucky, I can get a shower in before anyone goes looking for me."

"Too late. Rodney was freaking when he couldn't find you, or contact you over the comm."

Feeling at my ear, I felt my face heat up when I realized I'd forgotten my ear piece. "Well, uhh..." I squared my shoulder and stared at him defiantly. "It's my day off, you can deal with McKay."

Now he grimaced. "Hey! It's my day off, too!" He was pouting, again, that lower lip sticking out in a way that was all too cute. Grinning a little, he backed towards he door, giving me a twice over with his eyes before winking. "By the way. Looking good." He stuck his tongue out at me.

"Cute." I stated, walking over and poking him in the side, biting my lip as he yelped. Walking past him, I raised an eyebrow. "And you know? I could definitely say the same." Without even waiting for an answer, I made my way off down the hall, a grin on my face.

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Hope you like it

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	19. Warm

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Oh, I see. Maybe it's a malfunction on the site, or something on your computer is stopping it from letting you sign in. I'm not sure what it could be. You could always just mail a lemon to MGM with a note attached with 'I support the petition' and the site address. LOL. Yes, the idea of playing with John's dream could be fun.

Ok, you're right about her being too peeved at him to go easy on him. LOL Pretty-boy or not, he was in some deep, deep doo-doo. LOL, I forgot about the leather dress, and when I went back to read on it again, I think I almost died laughing. I pictured him in a leather minidress, and just sat there giggling away. The dress would be scary, the jeans and sweater are cute.

Glad you liked it :)

**Charlie Blue** - Oh I agree, John Sheppard is a lot of things. Don't forget the michevous smirk. ;) LOL.

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If nothing else, I could easily say one thing for John. He's warm. Well, he's warm in many ways. First of all, he's got a kind personality, though it can often hide behind his sarcastic comebacks. And then, on a cold day, he's just warm to the touch.

His hands are warm, his face is warm, he's just plain warm.

_How do I know?_

Ok, in all honesty, I had no way of knowing. I mean, with the hands and face, that was all a mission. He'd been stunned by a Wraith stunner, and I'd slipped out of Ronon and Teyla's grasp at one point to grab his hands and pull him to the safety of the trees.

It had shocked me at the time. His hands felt like they were on fire, they were hot to the touch, and when I reached down to check for a pulse, despite knowing he'd been stunned, my hand brushed against his cheek, which was just as hot.

_But it wasn't a fever._

No. I had Carson check him out when we got back, as I always did, to make sure there were no residual effects. When he reported, Carson pointed out there was nothing off about John. No temperature, no ill side effects, seemingly nothing was wrong.

"Elizabeth?"

Tapping my ear piece, I reclined on my bed, dressed in baggy sweat pants and a tank top. My window was open, revealing my balcony, but I couldn't go out onto it because of the rain storm we were getting. I just had the window open for the cool breeze. "I'm here. What's up?"

"Hey, it's John. I just wanted to let you know, Rodney detected a problem in one of the naqueda generators. He's going to take it offline for a while, to try and fix it, but that's going to take our heat offline. It's going to get pretty cold in here for a while."

Nodding to myself, I got up and closed my window, heading to my closet to grab a dark blue sweater. "Alright. You'd better let everyone know. Are you still going to stop by for the reports?"

There was quiet on the other end and I could hear him muttering something to someone, but he must have had his hand over the ear piece because I couldn't make out what he was saying. Then I got my response. "Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I'm done the announcement."

"Alright. See you then."

"Understood. Sheppard out."

Frowning to myself, I sighed and popped on my sweater as John's voice came over the speakers, announcing people should go to their rooms and bundle up, because the heat was going to be off for a while.

_From thinking about warm, to hearing about cold._

Ironic? Maybe. Either way, I sat back down on my bed and began reading over a report.

It was funny. The lights dimmed and I heard, what I'd now come to identify as the Atlantean version of a heater, turn off. It got cold quickly. I never really imagined how much of a difference little things here in Atlantis made.

Shivering a little, I burrowed deeper into my sweater and slid my legs under my blankets. Pulling them up to my waist, I covered my hands with my sleeves and continued reading.

It wasn't long before the chime on my door beep, and I called for John to come in. I knew it was him, because he was really the only one I was expecting tonight. He came in, dressed in a black long sleeved shirt under a gray sweater, and black running pants.

I must have looked surprised, well, he was out of uniform, but he shrugged and gave me a sheepish grin.

"This is a little warmer than my uniform." He explained as he walked over and took the chair next to my bed. "How're the reports going?"

Looking down at them, I shivered again and held one out to him. "This one. Lt. Davies wasn't very thorough."

John took the report, but didn't look at it as I shivered again. "Let me guess, freezing despite the sweater?"

"Yeah, a little." I pulled my blankets up to just under my arms and grabbed the next report. Reading over it, I found it was from Captain Courtez, and he usually had thorough reports. A quick skim and I was confirmed so I put it down, trying to ignore the chill running through me. Glancing over, I found John looking absently at the report in his hands, clearly distracted. "John?"

He looked at me and blinked a moment. Then he got up and walked over, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Scoot over."

I felt my eyes widen. "What??"

It was his turn to shiver. "We're both cold, and the heat's guaranteed to be out for a couple more hours. I don't know about you, but I don't like the thought of freezing my ass off."

Thinking about it a moment, I figured he could have put that all in a nicer sense, since he was asking permission to come into _my_ bed, with _me_ in it. Wait, John...and me...in _my_ bed..._together._

_Huh, not so cold anymore._

Scooting over as he'd mentioned, maybe it was instinct, but I shot him a look I knew was warning and he crawled under the covers. Immediately I gasped, hotter body temperature, or what, John's hand was _freezing!_ Taking his hand, I placed it a little higher on my stomach, rather than my bared side, as he moved to sit half behind me, pulling my back against his chest.

With the two of us, together, it didn't take long for us both to warm up, and I think I noticed almost right away when the shivering stopped. Picking up another report, I tried to focus on it and ignore his warm body against mine, but I couldn't ignore the heat soaking into me. It was amazingly relaxing. Still, I did try. "This one." My eyes felt like ten pound weights. "This one's a little vague."

I felt his head come to rest on my shoulder and felt him nod. "I see." His tone was clearly drowsy and distracted.

Looking at him, I felt my face heat up as he stared at me a moment, and was struck at the intense green of his eyes. Feeling his fingers start to rub small circles on my stomach, I cleared my throat and put the report aside, in a small pile of ones I was going to suggest be improved upon. I picked up another, this one from John himself and grinned at the usual way he reported his missions. Luckily, he was surprisingly thorough, so I skimmed through it and put it aside.

The sound of deep, steady breathing alerted me to the fact that John had fallen asleep. Glancing at him, I admired the relaxed expression on his face, briefly noting he was still holding me tight, and put down the next report I'd picked up. "This can wait." I stated quietly, letting my head rest softly against his. "Just for a little while."

_And nope, definitely warm now._

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	20. Lanky

**Charlie Blue** – I'm glad you enjoyed that. Yeah it just hit me at one time that that was something I could do for him, and I was surprised at how it turned out, but I liked it ;) I'm not complaining about the t-shirt thing, either. Nope. Not me. LOL

**Sparklyshimmer2010** – LOL! Strappy top short skirt was what I was thinking. LOL! Thus the 'nice legs' comments he was getting. LOL! I'm glad you liked those lines, they were some of my favorites too, because I could totally see her face as she thought it. LOL

**NotAllWhoWanderAreAimless** – I tend to update once a week, if not sooner. Yeah that's the picture I was talking about. LOL I love that picture! Thank you :)

**Holly Batali** – I'm glad you like it. I have a few more chapters to go, and hopefully I can keep coming up with ideas.

**ArafelSedai** – Oh he id definitely the hottest, which is part of the reason I'm so upset that they cancelled the show. :( Hm, my favorites were Jack and Cam with Daniel falling just after Jack, Cam and John. LOL Forget the regulations. It's called a FAN FICTION for a reason. LOL. In some cases I'll go for realistic for the readers, in some I like to say to hell with the regulations.

LOL Oh trust me, I'm glad no one ever follows the regulations (for the most part, anyways)

Ok, I am starting to get low on chapters left. If anyone has ideas PLEASE, PLEASE tell me, and I'll see what I can do. Thank you all for sticking with me. :)

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_Lanky._

That was a good word to describe John. He was tall and lanky. Not short, not chubby, not overly muscled, not thick, not really that skinny... Just...lanky. He had long arms and legs, a long torso... He had muscles, but by no means was he Arnold Schwarzenegger, which I was thankful for. There is certainly such thing as too much muscle.

Everything about him seemed proportioned to his...lankiness...? Is that even a word? Well, his height worked well for him, I've seen lanky guys who were all skin and bone. It didn't suit them. Then he wears his uniforms well. He has enough muscle and meat, that if I were to put my arms around him, which has certainly crossed my mind more than once, I was sure he'd feel solid and strong.

_Hm, leather?_

It made me wonder how he'd fit leather. They were accepting requests for new uniforms back at the SGC, would it be unreasonable to ask for one in leather? Just to see how it would work?

_They probably wouldn't mind. They probably wouldn't know why I was asking for it... What am I thinking?? That's just... _I felt my face heating up as I tried to imagine John in leather pants and a jacket with a black shirt. _Maybe...just the leather jacket? I could do it. There's nothing wrong, leather is stronger than cotton, it would help to protect my guys._ But then I tried to imagine Rodney in leather, and it gave a less than satisfactory look.

Not that Rodney was ugly, no. He just...wasn't John?

Ronon...wouldn't wear the uniform if I ordered him to. He'd probably shred it with one of his many hidden knives, and then try to 'innocently' point out it was no good to him like that. Or, he'd simply glare, shake his head, and walk off.

Teyla could pull it off, I'm sure.

Immediately, I felt a little anger and jealous flare up. A _little_! It wasn't right to feel that way, I knew. Teyla is a good woman. I think, I was just a little bit upset that John was more open to her, more willing to 'hang out', have movie nights, hell! He even sparred with her! He won't with me.

_Is it because he doesn't think I could pull it off?_ I hadn't had much training in bantos fighting, but I was sure I could hold my own. The way I heard it, John was no Yoda at it, either. _Or maybe he's worried about hurting me?_

Being base commander had it's upsides, but it certainly also had it's down sides, too.

BEEP!

Jumping in surprise, I looked up at the door, seeing a single male shaped figure on the other side. Hitting a button on my data pad, I closed the diary entry I'd been working on. "Come in."

The door slid open to reveal John himself, looking lanky as usual, but dressed in a blue button down shirt and jeans that fit more snugly than his uniform pants. Not tight, by all means, but comfortable. "Hey." He greeted quietly, walking in.

_Nice. _"Hi." I couldn't shake how good he looked, dressed casually. His clothes fit him well, and it was like my mind was stuck looping on _lanky._ He really did pull it off, and pull it off well. "What's up?"

He shrugged, his long torso following the movement. "Just came to see what you're up to."

Quickly and discreetly pulling up some mission reports, it was my turn to shrug. "Just looking over reports." Oh come on, like I was really going to tell him I was thinking about how hot he'd look in leather.

_Oops... There goes my mind again._

Trying to ignore the heat in my face, I raised an eyebrow as he gave me an almost incredulous look and shook his head. "Problem?"

John grinned, and nodded. "Yeah, you're working on your day off."

"I don't have much else to do at the moment." I pointed out. "Besides that game of solitaire I never finished."

"They _still_ haven't figured out who keeps putting it on?"

I shook my head.

"Oh well." Stalking forward, he saved my non-existent work and shut off my data pad.

"John!"

"You!" He grabbed my arm and began hauling me towards the door. "Are coming to watch a movie with me and the others."

I grinned behind his back at the order in his tone. "But, I have work to do." I struggled half heartedly in his grasp, finding myself amazed at how strong he was. "John, really!" I wasn't really trying to get away, I was just... I don't know, playing at it?

He still didn't turn back. "Nope. No work. It's your day off." He almost dragged me down the steps.

Suddenly, I tripped. Crying out in surprise, I fell forward and watched in slow motion as John pivoted on the step and reached out. I was sure I'd hit the ground, but instead, found myself held captive in strong, long arms that were locked around my shoulders, keeping me pinned against his chest. My arms were wrapped around his waist and it really brought him what I was thinking about earlier. He felt solid, strong. I could even feel the muscles of his sides move as he carefully righted us both.

Reluctantly, I let go and pulled away, and... Was it my imagination, or did he seem reluctant to let me go, as well?

"Wow, that was close." He made a face and looked at the stairs before looking at me. "Elizabeth, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you, you could've been hurt."

Staring silently a moment, I raised an eyebrow. _It was worth it._ I wanted to slap myself as that traitorous thought flashed across my mind. "Uh, it's ok, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. It's not your fault."

He nodded and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"So, um, what movie did you have in mind?" I asked, taking a careful step down and thanking god everyone was off doing their own thing, and we didn't have an audience.

Grinning again, John began to describe this new comedy he'd gotten, but my mind was more on the uniforms again.

_Leather, definitely looking into leather._

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Ok, when you've got guys like John, Ronon, Lorne and (self-admittedly, he's kinda cute) Rodney... I can see why they chose leather jackets later on. My only question?

WHAT THE HELL TOOK SO LONG?! (LOL)

Hope you like it.

R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	21. Hero

**Charlie Blue** - Oh, yeah, I noticed that about him, too. His body fits him and everything seems so perfectly proportioned. And his body fits his face. I like how he's also got a little bit of muscle, but a little bit of roundness to his stomach, too. LOL, the leather pondering chapter was one of my first, to be honest, and I just chose chapters randomly to post, so it waited until this long to be posted.

Yeah, Ronon's too muscled, and Rodney and Evan are both stockier. They all look great, but I prefer John's long, lean look.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - I was about to ask, is that a bad thing? LOL. Well, I just went for whatever muse hit me as I wrote each chapter. Well, I wanted to be honest to how someone would feel in real life, but also didn't want to put her at odds with Teyla. I wanted to show she'd feel jealousy, but it wouldn't affect how she was around the others.And, LOL, as if she'd tell John "Oh, I'm not up to much. Just thinking how hot you'd look in leather. ...Did I just say that out loud?"

Oh, I'm not sure, I'm just saying if Sheppard's Team has leather, the others probably do, too. Otherwise, it seems to me they'd be showing favoritism over just John's team, which could cause problems on Atlantis. ;) LOL

**PhysicsGeek** - Well, John can be just as hot in nothing but boxers, too. (eyes the picture) Wow! LOL, Glad you like it. :)

Here's another chapter, and a list of the complete chapters left, so far...

Hair, Kind, Legs, Lazy, Theories, Timing, and Voice.

Any ideas are appreciated. Thank you all for sticking with me. :)

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John is many things on Atlantis. Resident C.O., other than me, of course, the Kirk of Atlantis, and everyone's hero.

It goes with his bad luck and good timing. He's always the person you can count on to save you. I think probably half of our people in Atlantis has been saved by him, at least once, by now.

Maybe that's part of the reason he's always so popular. Handsome, smart, sarcastic but kind, depending on who you are, quirky, and, uh…Kirky.

Grinning to myself as I finished the last curl in my hair, I checked my knee length red dress. "I wonder who he'll be hitting on tonight." Pausing at that thought, I tried to ignore the stab of worry and pain. "Hm, I'd better get going."

Again I paused, but this time it was at the sight of a golden pendant hanging on the edge of my mirror. That had come from one of the planets we allied to. There was this whole fighting for the honor of the woman, thing, that went on there. Despite my being the base commander, I was still a woman, and as soon as they'd seen me, they locked me up.

Apparently, I was seen as an 'unbonded' woman and they'd planned to marry me off. Luckily, John had come to my rescue, fighting some pretty weird ritual battles for me, and pulling through victorious.

He'd saved me.

_My hero._ I thought, as I picked up the necklace. It was technically a sign of being bonded, on that world. Like a wedding ring. Still, I slipped it on. I don't know why, but wearing it, I felt… It was strange. It was comfortable. And if John ever asked, I could always say I didn't recall.

Heading out, I stopped and slipped on my red high heels before checking the necklace, which was hanging just about half an inch from the top of my dress.

We were having a small party. We'd chased the replicators from Atlantis, and everyone was glad to be home again.

Everyone was pretty much already there. The halls were dark and only a skeleton crew was working. I knew Rodney would be there with Katie Brown, Teyla with Ronon, and I think Carson had invited Laura Cadman. I had no idea if John would be there, but I guessed he would. He really wasn't the type to miss out on a party.

Taking the transporter to the hall leading to the control room, I stopped by to see if everything was alright.

"Wow, you look great." Chuck's eyes were wide. "Uh, ma'am."

Smiling I nodded before looking at the screen in front of him. "No sign of any more replicator ships, or other uninvited guests?"

He shook his head. "No, ma'am."

With another nod, I patted his shoulder before turning and walking off. I made my way down the stairs, and was almost at the bottom when my heel must have caught on something. With a yelp, I felt my leg slide out from under me, and I toppled over forward.

Suddenly, two arms surrounded me, and I felt myself landing against a warm, solid surface.

I'm not sure what happened. I guess my heel of my shoe caught on a crack in the floor and I fell. All I knew was that the embrace I was being held in, was a warm, safe one, and I really didn't want to move.

"Elizabeth? Wow. Uh, are-are you ok?"

Blinking for a moment, I felt my face heat up as I quickly pulled away and straightened myself out. "John! Hi."

He smiled, wearing a black t-shirt with black jeans. "Hey, that was quite the fall."

My blush intensified and I glared half heartedly at him. "We can't always…" Shaking my head, I sighed. "John, why are you here?" When he raised his eyebrows, I felt my eyes widen a moment before I masked my look. "Actually, I meant, why aren't you at the party?"

He shrugged. "I was looking for you. I wanted to make sure you weren't over working yourself again." Opening his mouth, he paused and frowned before leaning closer. "Hey, isn't that….?" Reaching out, he picked up the necklace and smiled a little. "Elizabeth?"

I was wondering when my face would actually explode. I'd swear I was blushing harder than ever. "Oh! Is that…?" I tried to think up an excuse, my mind having gone offline. Looking around quickly, I caught sign of a glint around John's neck and found my eyes widening. "Hey!" I reached out and pulled the necklace out of his shirt, watching as he winced and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Uh…" Pulling the necklace away, he smiled a little before tucking it back under his shirt. "Well, how about we go to the party?" He held out his arm.

Grinning a little, I took my own necklace back and accepted his arm. "Sure." I bit my lip as we walked around. "My hero." I muttered, grinning as he gave me a weird look and smirked.

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Hope you like it

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	22. Voice

**Holly-Batali** – Thank you :) I'm glad you like it. It just started out coincidental, and in the end, I couldn't help myself. LOL

**Charlie Blue** – Drag her from work, or carry her? LOL Hm… Actually, I can see John throwing her over his shoulder and dragging her to the party. LOL I thought about just having him notice it and be a little embarrassed or something, but then I though "Nahhh….one way affection" and I wanted to show his feelings back, so…

**Rinoax** – Ah, I made a mistake with the color, it's supposed to be 'green', but either way, I love how his eyes seem to change color. Not to mention, John covered in cake ;) Thighs = makes you wanna know if they are as firm as they look? Hm, I never thought of the water that would be flowing over his chest… LOL I knew people would love the 'warm' one. And Hero, yes I liked it too. I'm working on the self defense one now, thank you :)

**Sparklyshimmer2010** – "Who'd" better be hitting on her? Chuck, or John? ;) LOL I didn't even realize I did the 'fall' angle again. LOL Oops? Glad you enjoyed it :)

Here's the next chapter, and sorry about the late update. Major changes in my schedule have me trying to keep up.

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_His voice_.

Out of all the things I liked about John, hell... Out of all the things _everyone_ liked about John, his voice was up there in the list. It was a smooth drawl, that could often hold more emotion than his facial expressions.

Like the day he activated the chair on earth, his expression was almost afraid and very confused, but his voice...

"Did I do that?"

Four simple words, but they held such awe. Yeah, the confusion and fear were there, too, but it was mostly the awe I picked up on.

He was so nervous being on Atlantis, for a long time. It took him a good month to stop jumping at every strange sound, and to relax. Almost every other statement he made had a 'ma'am' or 'sir' in it, as if he was afraid to forget who we all were, or sound impolite if he didn't say anything.

And in a strange way, his voice really suited him. I mean, you have some men with really deep voices, like say... Ronon or Teal'c. Then there are men with lighter voices, which... I can't really think of any that I really knew. And then you have the people with the in between voices. Not deep, not light. John's was like that. Kind of medium. Surprisingly light for a guy like him, but clearly male.

I remember, the day of the big storm on Atlantis, when Kolya and his men tried to take over the base, and threatened to kill me, I'd been so terrified. Everything was such a blur for a long time, but I remembered John's voice. When he yelled at Kolya, threatening to kill him, his voice was so deep and deadly, I felt a chill run down my spine, not from the cold.

Then when he thought I was dead, and called my name, there was such...

_I can't even name it._

I couldn't name the emotions his voice held, other than a hint of panic, and anger beyond words. At last, when he rushed into the gate room, and shot Kolya, his voice held so much concern, which surprisingly, matched his face. He'd grabbed my arm and I could see the fear in his eyes, but more than that, I could hear it in his voice.

"Are you alright?"

Part of me wanted to play it strong and say yes, but hearing such fear and concern, I felt that part slip away and told him how I honestly felt.

"No."

I was cold and wet, I'd been taken prisoner, my life had been threatened, and I'd almost been shot. Was I ok? Hell no!

"....Elizabeth?"

Then there was how he sounded, saying my name. Sure, for the longest time he called me 'Dr. Weir', but you wouldn't believe how happy I was when we moved past that stage. I remember thinking... 'Finally'.

"Elizabeth?"

There was a hand on my arm, and I jumped, spinning to find myself standing in the middle of a burned down village, John Sheppard at my side with his P90 at the ready. The rest of team Sheppard was spread out, looking for survivors.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" he asked with a frown, his eyes rolling over my body, as if searching for something. His tone was quiet, as if he was afraid the others would hear us, and I heard the swallow before he said the final word.

"What?" Had I really said that out loud? I thought I'd only remembered it, had I really lost myself in my memories?

"I asked if you were alright." His tone was back to normal, hinting at a little annoyance as he watched Rodney talking with Teyla, or, rather, arguing with her. "And you said 'no'."

His voice was casual, but it was filled with so much. Worry, expectation, a little fear, confusion... Yet, his face was masked, and with his sunglasses on, I couldn't see his eyes. I still found it funny how his voice gave away so much more than anything else.

"I was just thinking." Looking away, I licked my lips and sighed. "Remembering when Kolya almost took over the base, and when I heard you ask if I was alright..." I felt a little embarrassed about admitting it. "I thought that was part of my memory, too."

He stared at me a moment before nodding. Tilting his head a little, he looked around before looking back at me. "Ok, well, let me ask you again. Are you alright?"

I raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "We're standing in the center of a recently culled, friendly village." Frowning, I sighed. "_Am_ I alright, John? No. _Will_ I be alright?" I hesitated and shook my head. "I don't know. I'll be better if we can find these people before they're all fed upon, though."

He nodded. "Yeah." His voice held a little reserved anger, and it went lower with it, more dangerous. "Me, too. Come on, we should head back."

Gathering up the rest of the team was quick, and before long, we were heading back to the gate. On the way, we suddenly heard a buzzing, and John spun around, aiming his P90 at the sky as his eyes frantically searched it.

"Dart!"

He jumped into action, grabbing my arm as Ronon grabbed Teyla and Rodney, and pulling us in different ways. As half of Team Sheppard dove into the woods on one side, we dove into the woods on the other.

I must have hit my head, though. There was a searing pain in my skull, and my vision went blurry. I could hear John calling me, and tried as hard as I could to open my eyes.

"Elizabeth!"

There was that fear and worry again. It was like a combination that always came out whenever I was hurt, or he thought I was hurt.

"Come on, Elizabeth! Stay with me!" Now he seemed to be trying for reassuring. "Open your eyes, you can do it." His voice wavered as his hands smoothed over my head, gently. The tone of his voice was softer, too, almost soothing.

Finally managing to open my eyes, I hissed at the bright light and closed them again, barely noticing that my vision was still really blurry. "...John?"

I felt him move and suddenly felt his arms around me, pulling me....down, I think. Then his arms wrapped carefully around my head, and I heard myself cry out as a massive explosion went off near us.

Slowly, he moved away, and I felt his hands on my shoulders. Opening my eyes again, I winced and put a hand to my head, already feeling a sticky spot where I was bleeding.

"Hang on, Liz. I'm gonna get you out of here." His tone sounded stronger, but his eyes showed his worry.

Frowning a moment as he helped me up carefully, I shook my head and winced. "Oh." I blinked and mentally scolded myself for shaking my head. "John, don't call me Liz." I stated with as strong a glare as I could manage in my condition. "I really hate that."

Pursing his lips, John stared at moment before grinning. "Got it. I'll keep that in mind....._Liz_."

I glared at him again, thankful my sight was clearing up, but I couldn't stop the grin spreading to me, and shook my head again, wincing again as everything spun. His voice held heavy teasing, and funnily enough, I found that I didn't mind him calling me that. The way it sounded in his smooth drawl...

It was kind of nice.

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I might be wrong about it being Kolya that tried to take over Atlantis, if I am, please feel free to point it out.

Hope you like it

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	23. Hair

**Rinoax** – I'm not sure how it'll turn out, but I'm working on it. Yeah, I love the connection John has to all the others, and how protective he can get. Yeah, I did notice when he lost his mind at Kolya's 'I killed her' attitude.

**Charlie Blue** – I like how versatile the voices are on them both. They can go higher or lower, but tend to be in between. And no matter what the sense, you can always tell how he feels via his voice. A blank face but deadly voice? Yeah, I love how he can pull that off. I love the name Elizabeth, as you can play with it a lot. Liz, Lizzy, Eliza, Liz'beth, Beth… Not to mention, the different tones he can take when calling her any nickname.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** – LOL, I was fairly sure you meant John. LOL. Oh, god, I know! I love his voice when it's soft and emotional. I saw a rerun of Aurora (with the Taranins (can't spell it)) a few days ago, and when he ordered Rodney to get back to work, I noticed that was one of few times he really seemed to get upset, and it was REALLY jaw dropping. Powerful, makes you want to wince and worry he's really pissed, but at the same time, it sends a chill through you.

Because everyone else is lower in command. Teyla doesn't do nicknames, since she's Athosian and it would probably take years to get comfortable with the others and call them by their first name, let alone a nickname. Ronon tends to call people by their last name, but for Teyla. Rodney would be too worried about pissing her off and getting shipped back to Atlantis, or assigned some really unpleasant duties, and John… I don't think John relaxed enough to call her by her first name, for a while, and before they had a chance to get close enough to get past the borders of the regulations, she was gone. I am a little incredulous that Lucious was the only one to call her Liz, though, but then, it's Lucious. What else would you expect from him? LOL

Ok, here's the next chapter, and to recap, I'm getting very low on remaining chapters to post. So any ideas are welcome, and I'll definitely give them a shot.

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"He is probably the only one..." Pursing my lips, I sighed as John Sheppard walked past my office.

His face was set fairly seriously, making me believe he was on a mission of some sort. He wore his typical Atlantis uniform, only without the jacket, leaving him in a black t-shirt that did nothing to hide his body. Then there was his hair. His always unruly hair.

_How does that man always do that?_

How could he always make simple things look so good?

I wasn't the only one that thought so, if the dreamy look on Lieutenant Piersons' face was any indication, as he stomped by her. She seemed to say something, but he didn't even pause or show any sign of hearing her.

Turning back to my roster, I couldn't hide the satisfied grin. It was wrong of me, to get pleasure from that, but there it was.

"Elizabeth."

Looking up at the doorway, I watched as Teyla strolled into my office with a smile.

"How are you?"

Part of me, the jealous part, wanted to tell her I was busy, but mentally scolding myself for that, I put the roster down and smiled. "I'm alright, and you?"

She nodded. "I am alright. I was just about to meet the Colonel for a sparring session and wanted to know if I could schedule one in for you, as well? I was made to understand you were looking into more non-lethal fighting styles."

_Who said...?_

Blinking for a moment, I nodded. "Sure, I'd love that." My mind went to John practicing bantos and how by the end of it, his hair would be glued to his forehead with sweat. Sure, he'd still have the occasional spike, but the majority of his gravity-defying hair would be soaked and hanging in his face.

Then it went on to how his entire body would be sweaty. How he'd look, how he'd sound gasping for breath, how he'd feel, if I was the one pinning him to the ground...

"I have time today, if you are interested."

Blinking out of my thoughts, I tried to ignore the heat in my face as I gave it a thought. "What time?"

"Directly after my sparring session with John, perhaps? About an hour from now?"

Thinking it over, I decided, if I got there early, I could have a few moment to watch him fighting. It was definitely a tempting thought.

Then, a young man came into the room with a salute and nod. "Ma'am, the mission reports are ready."

_Oh._ That was right. I'd requested some mission reports from an off world expedition led by Major Lorne. Hm, read mission reports, or watch John spar, followed by very likely painful sparring on my own behalf. "They'll have to wait." I stated, seeing Teyla about to open her mouth. "I'll be busy for a little while." Turning to Teyla I nodded. "I'll be there."

She looked at me a long moment before smiling with a slightly knowing look and nodding, turning and heading out of the room. The young marine remained in the doorway, and I realized he looked like a child-like version of John, only his hair was ten times more gravity defying. Looking at him a moment, I barely managed to bite back the urge to laugh and waved him off. _Nope, doesn't look good on him._ I decided.

It wasn't too long later that I found myself in the training room. Teyla and John were doing pretty well, and I watched as he pivoted, spun, ducked, swung, dodged, swung, ducked and pivoted. He was really good, and his hair... Well, it didn't move in the slightest whenever he did. His face was streaked with sweat, and he panted as Teyla managed to score yet another hit on his side, and he winced, giving her a look that stated he was silently complaining about her hitting him at all.

Then his eyes landed on me.

"Elizabeth?" He seemed confused to find me here, in jogging pants and a tank top. "Is everything ok?"

Raising an eyebrow to Teyla, who grinned and shrugged, I stared at him and folded my arms over my chest. "What? Is it suddenly against the law for the base commander to get sparring tips?"

He stared for a moment before running a hand through his hair. Beads of sweat dripped down the back of his hand, and when he was done, his hair was messier than before, but again, this was John. He still managed to make it look good. "Uh, I didn't say that. Sparring?"

"I will be giving Elizabeth her first lesson after I am done with your lesson." Teyla informed him from her position on the mat.

"Really? I'd love to stick around and watch." Now he was grinning, an almost undecipherable look in his eyes.

What was he grinning about? "Well, _Colonel_..." I made sure to slip a warning in my tone, despite I wasn't really all _that_ against it. "After you're done here, you still have evaluations to do, so unfortunately, it doesn't look like today will work." Now I allowed myself a grin.

Pouting, John sighed and shook his head, a few random sweat droplets falling from his hair and landing on his shirt. Handing me the bantos sticks as he walked over, he ran both his hands through his hair, which made me wonder if he considered that an equivalent of a brushing.

Of course, it was sticking up in all directions, but he took a towel to it after toweling off his face, and it calmed it down a little, almost bringing it back to it's normally messy state.

Grinning with a shake of my head as I turned to Teyla and bowed, I decided I really couldn't see him with tame hair. It just wouldn't be 'John'.

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	24. Body Contact

As an idea given to me by Rinoax, this one will deal with… (dun, dun, dunnnnnn!) BODY CONTACT! ;) LOL. I don't know how this will turn out, hopefully you'll like it.

**Rinoax** - It makes him look younger. I love his crazy hair, too. LOL Oh, don't worry, this chapter deals with sparring with John. ;)

**Holly-Batali** - Nope, but hey… When it gives John a reason to be around Elizabeth and be the center of her worry/amusement/sarcasm/affection, I'm not so sure he'd mind.

**Charlie Blue** - First up before I forget, I'm not sure if you got my PM, but I have your idea done and I've done a few more chapters for this story. I was actually watching an SG-1 episode last night with RDA in it, and yeah, he's got a look to him. It's almost elegant, or like he can pull off elegant, but at the same time he's playful or can be dangerous.

LOL Whenever I see that one piece sticking up, I can't help but think how cute it is. Gravity defying is definitely a good way to describe it. Just like sweaty John and RDA both sweaty and with sweaty hair?? ;) LOL

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - I've done the suicidal tendencies, but the smarts one I'm not sure how to pronounce his smarts.

Thank you all for sticking with this and I'm glad you like the chapters. Sorry for the late update, I had my wisdom teeth out Monday, so I'm only now beginning to get back to feeling like me again after wards. Thanks for the ideas, I've gotten a few extra chapters written.

P.S. I even got a chapter idea out of it, so… :D

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Ok, so I know I'm no Teyla, but I can usually hold my own in a battle. Hello, I wouldn't be out here, otherwise! I don't use guns, I hate them. I know how, but I just hate them. I don't use knives, they're just as bad. I prefer martial arts, really. I learned when I was young, how to protect myself, and now more or less just do it as practice.

Still, it is nice to have someone to practice martial arts with. For a while I was in the training room alone, practicing against a punching bag, or just around the room. Then, one day, John walked in while I was training. I don't know why, but he stayed there, just watching me. He didn't look all that impressed, but he did look interested.

Still, I trained alone. I thought maybe he'd join me, just to 'show me a thing or two', or maybe just to join me, but he didn't. I kept training and practicing alone.

Then one day, Teyla came along and offered to train with me. It was nice training with her, but it felt awkward. For one thing, she could kick my ass without even trying. I was good, but she was in her own league. I didn't stand a chance. Not to mention we were both girls. I know it's not supposed to bother me, but body contact against a girl opponent was still awkward.

Maybe she said something to John. Maybe he caught us once, that I didn't know about. All I know was about a week later, he offered to train with me. Do you think I turned him down? Are you crazy?! This was my chance to see what John Sheppard was made of.

So here I am, standing in the training room in my baggy jogging pants and purple tank top. I put my hair back in a pony tail and waited patiently for John to show up. After a few moments of nothing, I checked my watch and realized he was ten minutes late. My mind panicked, thinking he was going to stand me up or back out, but just as I turned to leave the room, the door opened and he ran in.

"Sorry I'm late." He panted a little. "I had some reports to finish, kinda zoned out and lost track of the time."

_At least he's honest._ Raising an eyebrow, I folded my arms over my chest. "It's ok, if you're busy-"

"Nope." He grinned. "Finished them all."

"I hope you didn't just give everyone 'above average' again." I scolded playfully. "Or I might just need to make you redo them all."

He feigned shock and sighed dramatically. "Elizabeth!"

Smiling a little, I shook my head and turned, walking back across the room. _Teyla mentioned training with Ronon when I asked her if I could take a rain check, and I don't know who to feel more sorry for, Ronon or Teyla._ Once I was at the point I was heading for, I turned and rolled my shoulders, watching as John took his own position not far from me and did the same.

"Ok, I've been training with Ronon, so, uh…" He shrugged. "Go easy on me."

I stopped from lowering into a defensive position at that. I'd been sure he was going to say he'd go easy on me or something, I hadn't been expecting this. "'Go easy on you'?"

He nodded. "I'm still kinda bruised up from yesterday."

"Look, we can do this another time if you're not up to it."

He raised an eyebrow. "I said I'm a little bruised up, I never said I wasn't up to it."

Dropping down into a defensive position, I tilted my head a little and regarded him slowly. He looked ready, but he seemed to be favouring his right side a bit. "Ok, if you're sure." I ran forward and aimed a kick at his head, but he luckily managed to duck out of the way and took a step back. He countered with a punch aimed near my face, and I blocked it, kicking him in the inside of his lower left thigh and watching as he went down with a grunt. "Oh god, John! I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?!"

He rubbed the inside of his thigh and gave me a look, before shaking his head. "No, I'm ok, but….uh, just….don't aim so high next time, ok?"

I nodded, realizing what he was getting at, and helped him up even as a blush crossed over my face. We took our positions again and this time I ended up knocking him over, but he took me with him. I couldn't find my balance on time, and ended up falling onto his chest as he landed on his back. Hearing him groan in pain and gasp, I pulled back and watched his face scrunched up as he wheezed. "John??"

"I'm ok… Just…Don't move." He gasped again.

I allowed myself a moment to realize I was pressed fully up against John, and noticed how warm he was. His chest was firm and almost hot against my own, but his stomach was a little softer. Not flabby, by all means, but not hard as a rock, either. I felt movement at his side, and moved my arm, feeling it brush against his, and realized he was holding his side.

Ignoring how my fingers tingled as they ran over his arms, and how his body seemed to shudder under my touch, I grasped his hand carefully and pulled myself up, off him. Stopping when I was kneeling.

…Or, more correctly, straddling his waist.

You know, I never noticed John had narrow hips, but it did suit his frame.

He was still wheezing as I carefully stood up and helped him up, and I stared at him in concern. "John, we can finish this later."

He shook his head and took a deep breath. "No, 's ok. Just a little bruising on the ribs."

Glaring at him a little, I raised an eyebrow. "And you're training in martial arts. Not smart, John."

"Can we just continue, please?" He almost whined.

Hesitating a moment, I sighed and took my position. This time, we ended up with our hands locked together, and I managed to slip a leg between his. Ignoring the way his legs felt on either side of mine, I swiped my foot into the back of his ankle, trying to trip him. Unfortunately, having my hands in a tight hold, he was more able to throw my balance off, and we both went over, this time with him on top of me.

Again, my mind went straight to his body pinned up against mine, and how powerful he felt. He pinned me down completely, our hands trapped between our bodies. My breath was knocked from my lungs, but it didn't so much hurt as just stun me. John, however, grunted and gasped again, lowering his head to rest against mine as he closed his eyes and took a deep, careful breath.

"Ok, that's enough, now." I stated, staring into his pained face. I noticed we were both getting sweaty from our workout, and flushed, feeling self-conscious with his closeness and my state. "Come on, I'll take you to the infirmary."

He shook his head and breathed deeply. "Nah, Carson just told me no heavy duty. I just need to take it easy."

Getting one of my hands free, I punched his shoulder lightly, and glared at him. "Light duty doesn't include working out, John." I left my hand on his shoulder as he continued laying there and frowned as he slowly opened his eyes. "Are you ok?"

He nodded as he took another deep breath and slowly leaned back, wincing a little as he braced himself on his arms. "Yeah, but I think you're right. That's enough for today."

Frowning a little, I helped John up and slowly stood up with him, taking a deep breath and noticing how cold the room seemed, without John on top of me. My eyes widened as those thoughts ran through my mind. _Oh, wow. Bad thoughts. Ok, no, good thoughts but bad timing._ Shaking my head a little, I brushed my bangs out of my face and took John's arm when he staggered a little. "Ok, come on, let's get you back to your room, then, if you're not gonna go back to the infirmary."

"Ok." He agreed easily, heading over to his stuff, while I went to mine. We got ourselves ready and I walked him out of the training room. "Well, that was a good workout. How about same time tomorrow?"

Glaring at him playfully, I nudged his arm. "I don't think so. Not until you're medically approved by Carson, for it. And I wanna hear it out of his mouth, personally." Smiling a little, I leaned into him and ruffled his hair, ignoring his playful 'Hey!' as he tried to straighten it. "Ask me after that, though." Giving him a smile, I finished taking him to his room and walked back to my own.

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Hope you like it.

I had a little trouble working through it, as I didn't have a strong muse for it, but I hope it turned out ok, anyways,

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	25. Legs

**Charlie Blue** – I like to work with John training, what can I say? I wouldn't mind being against his body, either. (Sighs dreamily) LOL. Maybe you should check your privacy settings on the account. It might be a spelling mistake in the email so they're not getting sent to you, or you might have email notifications off. I'm not sure.

When you first enter your profile an 'Account Settings' page should come up, and it has a list of…

Display Email

Display Location

Private Message

Anonymous Reviews

And check to see if those are disabled. Then check your email, in case there's even one letter off, it might be sending the emails to the wrong account, like I mentioned before. Other than that, I'd just check the different settings.

**Rinoax** – LOL That was the plan. It started off weird, but the body contact part I liked. Just John watching her work out, probably thinking she looked hot, but not really knowing her well enough at the point to join her. So he watched silently, watching her moves.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** – It was the beginning, to me, too. I'm not sure. I liked the center part with the actual sparring, but I didn't have a strong muse. I'm hoping this one is better. Wisdom teeth out? It went how it went. I'm still waiting for the bruising to go away so I'll stop looking like an abuse victim. :S LOL! Thanks, though, I am doing better. :)

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"Ow! John!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Wincing a little, I slowly got up, trying not to stare at John in his training outfit. It was a simple blue t-shirt and black shorts, but it looked really good on him. Especially when his shirt stuck to him as he worked up a sweat.

And right now, he was looking down at me with a worried frown.

And have you _seen _his legs?

Sure, the shorts were baggy, but whenever he bent down, they tightened nicely around his thighs and calves. They were long and lean, just like the rest of him, with nicely defined muscles, and being covered in dark hairs…

Standing up slowly, I winced a little and rubbed my back. "Wow, who knew this would hurt so much."

"You're training, Elizabeth." He pointed out as he walked over and bent down, picking up the bantos sticks. As he was bent, the shorts again formed nicely against his legs, and the waist slid low along his hips, showing off his boxers.

I bit my lip and looked away as I took a step back. Walking over to my bottle of water, I grabbed it and took a drink before wiping the sweat off my face, fixing my tank top and get myself ready for round two. "By the way, who's idea was it for me to learn bantos?" I asked, turning and taking my sticks from John before taking up my spot on the mat.

He shrugged and grinned. "I suggested it, you decided you wanted to give it a try."

Raising an eyebrow, I paused and stood up straight, trying not to eye how his outfit fit him. "And who's idea was it for _you_ to train me?" Seeing his eyes darken, I held up my hand. "I mean, isn't Teyla the one who knows the most about it? Atlantis' resident bantos expert?"

Pursing his lips, John seemed to think about it. "Well, Teyla's got a lot of people to teach, so far. And I'm… Well, I…"

"John." Smiling, I shook my head. "It's ok." I took up the pose and raised an eyebrow. "It's probably safer with you anyways, less of a chance for you to kick my ass."

"Uh, right." He took his pose, bending his knees a little in a slight crouch, and my eyes were drawn to the shape of his legs through the shorts.

Pursing my lips, I found myself struggling to pay attention as he came at me. Sure, he came in careful and slow, giving me a chance to block his attacks, but I found my eyes straying to his body a lot. All of a sudden, I swung behind him and managed to get a slap in, at his ass. I couldn't help but giggle, despite the fact it was an accident, as he yelped and grabbed his ass, hopping away as he turned and glared at me.

"What the hell was that about?!" He'd stopped hopping and rubbed gingerly at his backside with a look that seemed torn between being amused and being mad.

I bit my lip and shrugged. "I was just… It was an accident?"

He raised an eyebrow, and I saw his lips twitch in the corners before they straightened. "Hmm, really?" He took up his stance, his eyes narrowed.

We went at it again, and I was really proud of myself for lasting a good amount of time, and we got really close up, our bantos sticks pressed firmly against each other. Last minute, I kicked my leg out and knocked John over, falling with him and landing on top of him.

Unfortunately, I wasn't expecting the fall, so we went down as a mess, and my one hand landed on his upper thigh. For a moment, I just froze, more aware of the flexing of his thigh muscle under my hand, than anything else.

"Uh, nice…move…"

Feeling my face heat up, I pushed myself off him and stood up, grinning a little and shrugging. "Not so bad for a beginner, right?"

He shrugged and got up with a crooked smirk. "Not bad at all." Crouching down, he raised an eyebrow and I realized he wanted to go another round.

With a sigh, I picked up my bantos sticks and crouched, myself, trying to shake the memory of the taught muscle under my hand, as he launched himself at me.

_You know, John really does have nice legs._

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Hope you like it

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	26. Clever

**Rinoax** - Oh I know. I can see the evil smile, too. Well the hand on the thigh _was_ meant to be innocent. LOL Then again, who knows what's really on her mind?

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Oh I know, trust me. Having to eat nothing but the softest foods isn't all that wonderful, either. :S If you liked the last chapter, I think you'll really like this one. I know you'd love 'Soul Reaper', a two-parter update for my other story. I'm not sure when I'll be posting it, but I love how it turned out, soooo....

**Oursonguimauve** - Well they're all supposed to be pretty much unrelated, so I wasn't planning on having them admit it. But I do try to point out they both know it's there. Glad you enjoy it. :)

**Charlie Blue** - I'd suggest turning it off and mailing support for help. That way people won't message you and wonder why you're not getting back to them. Yeah, I was hoping people wouldn't think I did two chapters just focusing on his legs, and I'm pleased to see people enoyed it. I noticed that about him. Joe Flanigan aka John Sheppard is so well formed, all over. Everything is long and lean, and in proportion.

I'm sorry to hear about your week and hope next week goes better.

The scene where Elizabeth went to Relax was inspired by Hills of Myst by Within Temptation. It's an absolutely stunning song and I'd recommend it to everyone.

Some of the lines are taken from Prodigal (?) and instead of Woolsey saying them, John is. :P

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_I am so clever._ I thought with a grin as I snuck past a couple of marines who were speaking to John. Glancing at him, he had his head down and didn't look up from some paperwork they handed him as I walked past, quickly and quietly. As soon as I was out of sight of the control room, and the countless reports that had to be filed, I walked briskly down the hall, to the nearest transporter.

Yeah, yeah, I know. This is exactly the kind of thing I'd berate my officers for. After three days straight of filing reports with little to no distractions, I felt like I was about to go insane, and I knew I definitely needed a break.

My ear piece beeped, and I heard John's voice.

"Elizabeth?"

I raised my hand automatically to tap it, but froze with my finger about an inch above the button, frowning and stepping into the transporter.

"Elizabeth, can you hear me?"

I hit my destination on the panel beside me and grinned to myself as the transporter lit up just as John rounded the corner and shot me a confused look. Everything turned blindingly bright, and when it cleared I was standing in a newly excavated section of Atlantis. One only myself, John and his team knew about. As I stepped out of the transporter, I took a deep breath and felt the stress flow off my shoulders a the salt in the air made it's presence known.

"Elizabeth!"

I tapped my ear piece and sighed. "Yes, John?" I knew it was useless to ignore him, he'd seen me and was likely to gather a search team if I didn't respond. Stepping forward, I walked down a hall filled with debris, stepping over fallen beams and rusted panels. The hall itself was nothing special, but where it led to…

"Where are you?" I could hear the stern edge in John's voice, and the hint of scolding. "And why didn't you answer me before??"

I raised an eyebrow as I turned the corner and continued down another hall. I knew no one would come looking for me here, because the place hadn't been cleared yet and was technically off limits. It was safe, we all knew that, but until it was cleaned up, only myself, John's team, and whoever John chose as the cleaning crew were allowed here, and even then, anyone else was supposed to come to me, first.

"I'm fine, John." I sighed in exasperation. "I got tired of reports, so I'm taking a break." I stopped at a four way split and looked around.

"That doesn't answer my first question. _Where_ are you?"

I grinned to myself, having cleared the memory bank from the transporter. John would need Radek or Rodney's help to get it back, and that would mean informing them he lost me, which John's pride would never allow unless he thought I was in danger. "I'm _safe_."

One hall ended at a dead end, having collapsed from the time spent under water. If it wasn't for the shield, there would probably still be water along the floor. Another turned a few feet down, and I knew it connected with the next passage and a few empty rooms. Taking the last one, I headed down the straight hall to my destination and sighed with a smile.

"Elizabeth…" I could hear John on the verge of growling.

"Look, I just need a little time to relax. I'll be back in a while, ok? Elizabeth out." Tapping my radio into the off position, I sat down on another fallen pillar and stared out at the breathtaking sight before me.

It was dusk and the sun was just beginning to set on the horizon. There were occasional clouds in the sky, and the sun had painted them, along with the ocean, in hues of orange, red, and purple. The way the sun was now, it was hidden behind the spires of Atlantis, but it's rays painted them in dusk colors and the whole city seemed to glow with an unnatural beauty. Not that it didn't have that, already.

Where I sat, the hall ended in a gentle slope leading into the frigid waters of the ocean, and there was some grass growing along the edges of it. What was truly amazing were the flowers. They were absolutely breathtaking, made of a crystalline substance and shimmering violets and blues. As the sun lowered more, they began to open up, releasing brightly glowing balls of light into the sky to float around gently on the breeze.

Closing my eyes, I listened to the wind blowing in crevices of Atlantis, whistling and almost humming softly. If I concentrated, it sounded like Atlantis was singing, and I could almost feel the city's… I don't know how to explain it. A presence…?

My eyes shot open and I felt my entire body stiffen, realizing that this 'presence' wasn't Atlantis. Someone else was there with me. Jumping up, I spun around and gasped in surprise when my eyes locked on slightly startled green ones. "John!"

He stared at me a moment before his eyes slid past me to the scene. They were wider than normal and filled with awe. "This…. This is….." He just stared out over the colourful scene before chuckling a little. "God, this is amazing!" He moved over and sat down beside me on the beam before patting it for me to resume sitting.

I did so, still staring at him, a little irritated that he got the drop on me and that he even found me to begin with, and a little confused as to his reaction. Surely he'd come here before, himself. "What?" I asked, when he raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

"I could say the same thing. Here I am, thinking you've lost your mind, and you're enjoying a…" He turned out to the sunset, his eyes on the glittering balls of light that seemed to hover over us, in the humming air. "Gorgeous sunset…?" Suddenly he frowned and looked at me. "You poached my private spot!"

I blinked a little, startled by his exclamation. Then I started to laugh. "Excuse me??"

He seemed to realize how that sounded and blushed. In the fading light, he grinned and turned to the crystalline flowers. "I mean, you found my private spot."

I raised an eyebrow and stared at him pointedly. _That didn't sound any better._

His blush deepened, he groaned and slapped his forehead, and he grinned a little to himself. Chuckling, he shook his head. "This is where I come…" He sighed. "when I need to relax, too."

Nodding a little, and ignoring all the innuendo my mind helpfully picked out of that little conversation, I turned out to the sights. "So you have been here before?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Why did you seem so surprised by it?" I turned to see him looking at me in confusion, before a look of realization appeared on his face.

"I usually come out here during the day." He pointed to the flowers. "Those aren't there." He pointed to the orbs of light. "_Those_ aren't there… Are you sure those are safe to be around?" He shook his head. "It was just…startling."

I nodded and turned back out to the now almost set sun, watching as the glowing orbs lowered to the flowers and seemed to dance over them, highlighting the already glowing crystal. "Yes, it most certainly was to me, too, when I first came out here. Which brings me to my next question." Turning to John, I noted how he watched the flowers intently. "How did you know where to find me."

"I thought like you."

I raised an eyebrow. _I most certainly _hope_ not!_ "Really? How's that?"

"If I wanted to get away from everyone for a little while, I'd go to a place that wasn't open to the public, so to speak. A place few people knew about, but one where I really could relax." He turned to me and smiled a surprisingly warm smile. "That and I had Radek trace your last transport."

Smacking his arm a little, I couldn't help but smile as I nodded. "Ahh, I see." He must have been worried, then. "So… You gonna take me back?" I gave him a pout and hopeful look. "I'm being good, really."

He chuckled and shook his head before leaning against me a little. "Nah, I'm gonna stay here with you. That way I know you're safe…" He tapped his ear. "At least _one_ of us has a radio on." He raised an eyebrow as I tapped mine back on. "And I can enjoy the scene, too."

We sat in companionable silence for a while. Once the sun had set fully, the flowing orbs gently flew back down to the flowers and settled into the centers of them. Then the crystalline walls closed over them and they darkened.

"It doesn't last long, does it?" John's voice was unusually soft and quiet.

Turning to him, as I hadn't expected his quiet question, I noticed his eyes were unusually soft as he took in the now dark flowers. "No, it's a sunrise and sunset thing." I watched as he nodded and sighed before closing his eyes and leaning his forehead on my shoulder a moment. Part of me wanted to question that, but he raised his head and stared out over the water, the entire glowing city of Atlantis acting like one big nightlight for us.

Not to mention, both moons were out and full.

Shivering a little, I became aware I was out here in my t-shirt, and the air was starting to get cold. I was about to open my mouth to say something to John about heading back, but I felt a warmth wrap around my waist and turned to find John's arm there. There was a slight tug, and I was tucked up against his side. Instantly, I felt his body heat seeping into me, and I sighed, feeling content.

"You still have reports to do." He stated in almost a whisper.

I grinned to myself and shook my head before leaning it on John's shoulder. "Tomorrow."

We sat quietly watching the star-filled sky twinkle above the ocean. The cool air seemed to hum, still, and I closed my eyes and relaxed against John.

_I may be clever, but apparently, so is John._

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Hills of Myst always brings tears to my eyes. It's so relaxing and absolutely gorgeous. :)

Hope you like it.

Written November 18, 2008

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	27. Ears

**Rinoax** - Thank you, I was hoping to get a calm theme going in this one. John Sheppard... Who needs a knight in shining armor when you have a marine in black BDUs? :P

**Charlie Blue** - Hey, yeah, 'Great minds think alike' works well for this story. LOL Well, I was thinking relaxing and the song helped inspire the idea. LMAO the poached private spot comment was care of Woolsey, so I can't take credit for it, but I CAN enjoy/borrow it.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Glad you thought so :)

**Holly-Batali** - LOL I loved that line and it seemed to fit in here perfectly.

**NotAllWhoWanderAreAimless** - I love sunsets, and I've seen lots of nice ones, so I got my inspiration from them. :)

This is an idea from **Charlie Blue**. Considering pointed ears makes me think elfin, this is a Christmas-themed story.

**Notice**: I am once again down to a few chapters left, and I haven't written any new ones. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of getting into Twilight, so my muse is strongest there, even though I AM still working on an Elizabeth/John story at the moment (Which will probably be under 10 chapters when it's complete). Thank you all for sticking with me, and I hope to keep this story going a bit longer. Requests are always welcome.

Very sorry for the late update.

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"Oh, come on, John. It's a cute look and it suits you perfectly." Pouting a little, I couldn't fight the grin that formed over my face as the tips of his ears burned light pink. "Especially with those ears." I winked at him when he shot me a look that was torn between insulted, confused, and a little indignant. "What? I'm serious!"

_His ears are always the first thing to turn pink when he blushes._

He tugged at the red vest he wore over a deep green shirt. "No offence, Elizabeth, but what's my ears got to do with..._this_??" He pointed to the red and green outfit he wore. Then he lifted a foot and pointed to the pointy-toed green boots. "I hardly resemble a military officer, you know."

I shrugged and pointed down to my own red outfit. I was dressed in a mini dress with white fluffy trim around the loose skirt, a green bodice, and a white trim around the medium neckline and long, loose sleeves. Red knee high boots with white trim, and a matching red santa hat finished off my look, and I couldn't help the blush I felt spreading over my cheeks. "I doubt I look all that commanding, myself." I was an elf, too.

"Oh, I dunno...." John looked uncertain as he eyed me closer, and I felt the blush spreading even further. Giving him his own once over, I bit back the grin, knowing my decision had been the right one. I had taken the time to explain to Teyla what Christmas was, once, when he had some spare time. I'd realized that it was still over a month away, but at the same time I felt excited at the prospect of giving my people a chance to relax, even if it was for a night.

Teyla had come up with the idea we should have a Christmas party, even if it was early. As she explained it, why wait until it was time, and risk having the war break out and interrupt it, when we had some quiet time now? I agreed, because I figured not only would it be a good morale boost, but a chance to show the Athosian children one of our more fun earth customs.

"And who's Santa?" John raised an eyebrow, pulling uncomfortably at his green hat.

Teyla asked me what sorts of things we could do for Christmas, after the word party had been raised, and I suggested a bit of a costume party. I explained about Santa and his elves, and when I questioned who would be elves, the first name on Teyla's lips was 'John'.

"Lorne's going to play Jolly Old Saint Nick." I stated with a grin, having seen his costume already.

I couldn't even _think_ of denying it when Teyla's face broke out into an evil grin. My mind shot to his ears and how they seemed to taper to a perfect little rounded point, and I broke up into giggles, agreeing with her whole heartedly. I think that was one of the first things I noticed when I gave him a good once over, before we came to Atlantis. He looked like a trouble maker, but at the same time, those ears made me want to go over and grab one. I swore he was wearing fake ears!

"And _why_ exactly is Major Lorne playing Santa, and _I'm_ an elf?" John folded his arms over his chest and gave a pretty good impression of Rodney, when I'd given him the same costume.

"Well, I was thinking of you, Rodney, or Lorne. Rodney would never shut up about it, if I made him Santa, and it's just as bad I made him an elf..." I giggled a little, coughing loudly as I tried to cover it up. "And between you and Lorne..." I shrugged. "Lorne's.....uhh....built better for it?"

He raised an eyebrow and looked beyond me, as if giving it some thought.

Stuffing my fist in my mouth, I held my breath to keep from laughing. It looked utterly hilarious, John dressed as an elf with such a thoughtful look on his face, with the white pompom from his hat brushing the side of his head right by his eyes. His face was set so seriously, despite the red and green outfit, and it just looked so cute.

"I guess I can see it." He frowned thoughtfully. "Although why pick _me_ as an _elf_?!" He raised an eyebrow and resumed glaring at me slightly. "And _what_ are you laughing at?!"

I couldn't take it. Doubling over, I leaned against the wall as I laughed. "Y..." Stopping, I took a deep breath and started laughing all over again as his eyes narrowed dangerous. Shaking my head, I raised a hand and waved it for him to give me a second. "You... You look like....a pretty dangerous elf." I stated through my laughter, wiping a tear from my face as I took a deep breath, watching his eyes widen and shoot down to his outfit.

"Gee, thanks." He stated sarcastically. "And here I was going for fuzzy and cute."

"Well, you've got the cute part down." I stated, poking at his pompom and giggling as it bounced and he shot me a look. "As for your earlier question..." I hesitated and stared at him, noticing how the tips of his ears again turned pink and he fidgeted a little. "Your ears."

His face morphed into one of confusion and he stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "Excuse me?"

"Your ears." Reaching out, I trailed my fingers over the sift edges, feeling my face heat up when they touched the soft, warm surface.

Now the blush extended from the tips of his ears all the way to his face and down it to his chin. "My...ears...?"

"You've got the perfect ears for being an elf." I pulled my hand back and giggled as he closed his eyes and a look came over his face that stated 'I should have known'."You really do look cute!" I insisted, trying to cheer him up.

"I'm a guy. I shouldn't be an _elf_."

"You make a great elf." I grinned as he groaned in frustration. "And you're going in there with those kids." I stated a little more firmly, crossing my hands over my chest.

Staring at me a moment, he shook his head and looked up, as if praying for strength. His eyes seemed to search the ceiling and then widened.

"What?" Looking up, I tried to find what he was staring at, but before I could even focus on the ceiling, warm lips captured mine. Gasping, I felt two solid arms come around me and my blush picked up again as my eyes locked on a single pointy ear that was currently turning bright red. Realizing it was John, I closed my eyes and relaxed, putting my arms around his neck and kissing him back before he could get away.

We must have been like that for a while, I don't know. All I know was his lips were warm and soft, and he tasted of candy. _Wait, candy...?_ I felt my eyes narrow, even though they were closed, as I thought about the candy canes that no one was supposed to touch until the party. I didn't want them disappearing before the kids had a chance at them.

"Huh, so that's where they put the mistletoe."

Jumping a little in surprise, I noted with faint disappointment as John pulled back sharply, his red face spinning to our interruptor, and following his gaze, I licked my lips and found a hint of candy cane taste on them. _Why am I not surprised?_ "Rodney..."

He was dressed in the same outfit as John, and his face was red. Unlike John, however, he'd chosen to forego the hat, and fix a more stern look on his face. "I was just..." He looked ready to laugh or run out of here in mortification. "Uhh... The kids are ready?"

"Right." Turning to John, I eyed his costume before reaching up and straightening his hat. Turning back to Rodney, I raised an eyebrow, even as I fixed my own hat. "Rodney, hat."

"It's back in my room, I know." He stated with an almost hopeful grin.

Staring him down, I raised a hand and pointed down the hall. "Hat. Now."

His hopeful expression faded and he sighed loudly. "This is _so_ not fair!" He looked at John and seemed to hesitate before grinning. "At least I'm not alone, and hey, look! You've even got the ears!"

I bit back my grin as John shot Rodney a dark look, his ears turning red even as his face when pink. "Thanks, Rodney. You look a little like a stuffed-"

"John." Giving him a look, I pointed to the door leading to the lunch room, where many marines had gathered and dressed up in the spirit of Christmas. "Go. Now." Turning to Rodney, I pointed in the other direction. "You, too."

Rodney sulked off, muttering about lack of respect and many important things to do, and I wished I had a camera. The outfits were amazing and all thanks to Cadman. Rodney McKay really did look like a scolded elf, and I shook my head, startling to find John still standing beside me, a thoughtful look on his face as he eyed my outfit. "What...?"

Grinning a little, he ducked down and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips before leaning back up. "You look good."

I felt my face heat up and shook my head, all too aware I was smiling. "You, too." He held out his arm, and I linked mine through it. Turning to the doors, he swiped his hand over the panel and they opened up, revealing dozens of children rushing around excitedly.

All the tables were piled with wrapped presents, and Athosians and Atlanteans combined walked around laughing and enjoying it. There was a large Christmas tree in the corner, decorated and sparkling, with a bright star at the top of it, and one long table had been lined with Christmas treats.

All citrus free, of course.

"Shall we?"

Spotting Lorne sitting on a chair in a big red Santa outfit with an almost scared looking Athosian child on his lap, I laughed outright, and waved at a few people before turning to John. "Lets." As he led me into the room, I grinned and grabbed a wrapped candy cane hanging from a garland over the door. "Oh, and John?" He looked at me and I stuck the candy cane over his ear so it hung off him, raising an eyebrow at him. "Remind me to talk to you about getting into the candy canes early." I stated, turning and heading towards Teyla with a grin forming as I went.

Glancing back once, I noticed him staring at me in a mixture of amusement as he licked his lips, the candy cane still hanging off his red-tipped ear. I couldn't take that look and started laughing. Teyla laughed a little beside me, even as John pulled the candy cane down and shot us a look, before turning, his face filling with dread as his eyes locked on the laughing eyes of Ronon.

"Oh, boy. This ought to be good." I accepted a cup of milk and a cookie from a passing marine and grinned as John ducked his head and visible sighed as Ronon laughed and said something to him. I almost spit the drink out when John quickly peeled the candy cane and stuck it in Ronon's mouth to shut him up, watching as John grinned at the warning look Ronon shot him. Turning as the door opened, I watched as Rodney stomped into the room, and promptly pasted a smile on his face as two Athosian kids walk past. I grinned. "This was an excellent idea. And yeah, we were right, John's got the perfect ears for this."

_Perfectly tapered into a rounded point. Definitely cute._

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Hope you like it

Written November 9, 2008

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	28. Timing

**Rinoax** - LOL, I wasn't sure what to do for his ears, but as soon as I started writing, BAM! The idea hit and stuck home. LOL It all just came out thte way it wanted to, but I am impressed by how it turned out. Nope, they were close in that chapter. Not your imagination.

(Sighs) Yup, I'm a big Edward/Bella fan (TEAM EDWARD! YAY! :D) I'm actually working on a short series on one-shots that are dedicated to scenes in the books (depending on how it goes)

**Note** : Oiiii.... I have so many ideas rolling around, I finished a mini story for John/Elizabeth, but I'm not to sure if I want to post it because I'm not sure I like how it came out. (I'll let readers decide)

**Tinypennie** - I always did find them cute, myself, along with the rest of him. What can I say? He would make a perfect elf. :)

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - LOL! Oh I know! And Ronon wouldn't know who Santa is, so it couldn't be him. I can just picture it. Lorne has a bigger build than Sheppard, so with a little padding, he'd make a wonderful Santa. I knew if anyone could talk John into being an elf, it would be Elizabeth. Rodney... I wanted to include him, but make him suffer...I guess. LOL! So I chose elf for him, too. Can you just see Rodney in a red and green elf costume with pointy boots and a hat?

**Erin87** - I'm glad you enjoyed it. I am very pleased with how it came out and how many people seem to enjoy it. :) I wanted to do a Christmas theme and it kind of came out of nowhere, so... And thank you :) I was trying to think of an Atlantis haven for John and Elizabeth to enjoy, and the song Hills of Myst really helped bring the image together.

**Charlie Blue** - Trust me, you haven't seen _my_ dirty mind, yet! LOL Oh I'm with you all the way. (Grins and bares her teeth) I wonder how often he walks around with bite marks on his ears... Hmm..... LOL, I am thoroughly pleased everyone enjoyed that chapter, and I certainly enjoyed writing it. A slightly better chapter with the abundant Elizabeth/John in it? LOL. Yeah, that's what I was going for, with her comstume. I figured with her red hair and blue eyes, she could pull it off really well.

**Holly-Batali** - LOL, I've made them kiss before...haven't I? Hmmm...(Will have to work on that) I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

**NotAllWhoWanderAreAimless** - I'm glad you enjoyed it :) A Christmas kiss? LOL

Sorry for the late updates, I've been glued to Twilight's arse, so I haven't been able to pull myself away long enough to focus on SGA (Though I've not forgotten it). I've actually finished a chapter for my other SGA fic (I've still got ideas for that one), as well as a 9 chapter John/Elizabeth story I'm not sure how I feel about, and I'm getting some ideas for one-shots dealing with the Twilight books, so I'm dancing between writing and reading. :S

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"You and your timing."

"What's wrong with my timing?"

Glaring at him a little, I allowed myself a smile. "I never said there was anything _wrong_ with your timing."

Grinning back a little, John looked out over a corridor and when he found it was clear, he took my arm and led me quickly down to another corner. "Oh, so it's a good thing, then?" he asked quietly, a teasing smirk across his features.

Teyla and Ronon were at the entrance, watching their backs, and Rodney was at the DHD with Lorne and a couple of his men. This had been one of Kolya's complex's, where I'd been taken when an off world mission to work on an alliance with some people Lorne's team met. They'd tricked us, and Kolya's men had managed to knock out the team and capture me.

They were planning on either trading me for C4, jumpers, a bunch of weapons from Atlantis, or torturing me for any and all information. Actually, I think they planned on doing both. Luckily, John showed up when he did, maybe an hour before they planned to begin.

Funny how he always manages to show up just in the nick of time. John might have bad luck, but he's got a hell of a sense of timing!

Pausing behind John after he led me to another little alcove to hide in, I put my hand to my chin and pretended to think about it. "Well…."

Well, it _was_ true.

How many times had he saved lives, with his quick thinking and timing? Rodney, when the jumper sank under the ocean. All of us at the drilling platform, when the Wraith queen came on board. When the whales came to Atlantis to warn us of the solar flares, and so much more.

Like now for instance.

"_'Well…'_" John made a face and raised an eyebrow at me. "Ok, you want me to take you back to your cell and come back for you in two hours?"

Now I really did glare at him, and if I was Ronon, I probably would have growled. "Don't. You. Dare." I warned him lowly. "If you do, I'll take _you_ to a cell in Atlantis, and repeat everything they do to me, to you."

John burst out laughing and leaned against the wall before looking around with an expression that showed he took that the wrong way. "Oh, really?" He looked back at me with a raised eyebrow and smirked almost evilly. "Promise?"

"Oh, I guarantee you won't enjoy it." I stated fully seriously, trying not to grin at the way his mind worked. "I doubt the Genii planned to play games with me and treat me like a princess, so don't you go expecting it."

He chuckled again. "Aww, and here I was hoping they'd be able to do something with my hair." He mock pouted and ran a hand through his unruly locks.

Slapping his arm, I let the grin show. "Jerk!"

A mock shocked and hurt look crossed his face. "You wound me."

Laughing a little, I took a step forward, to get walking, and felt my foot catch against something. My laughter stopped as I looked down and saw my ankle pressing against a cord stretched taught across the hallway.

"Eliz… Don't move." Frowning, he knelt down and seemed to follow the cord with his eyes. His hand was warm against my calf as he held on to it, and he stared at the wall carefully, scanning it for any sign of what the trap does.

Shaking my head, I took a deep breath, feeling my heart pounding. "Oh, trust me. I don't plan to."

Standing up slowly, John walked over to the wall and looked along it. "So tell me what you meant before, about my timing."

_Trying to distract me._ Thinking about it for a moment, I tried to recall a specific moment. "Remember when the Wraith captured Ronon?" I saw him nod a tiny bit as he ran a hand up a crack in the wall. "How you and the team showed up just in time to help him kill one of those really ancient Wraith leaders? You guys showed up _just_ in time to save him."

"Hmm… I didn't think of it like that." He stopped at a small hole and frowned.

"Or… Like now, they were planning on torturing me soon, you showed up before they could even begin."

Slowly turning around, John's eyes were narrowed in the dark hallway. "_Good._"

For a moment, I blinked in surprise at the sudden serious, dangerous quality in John's voice. "Uh…"

"Listen, we're gonna have to move fast. I think I have an idea of what kind of trap this is." Walking over, he carefully helped me keep my one leg firmly against the cord as I lifted my other leg over the cord. "See those holes?" He pointed to the holes in the walls on both sides, at about chest height on me. "We're gonna run low, and try to avoid them."

Nodding, I got ready as he stated we'd go on three. Unfortunately, it seemed his count of three varied from the ones I was used to.

"Three!"

I couldn't help the yelp as he grabbed my arm and pulled me along behind him. Startled, I wasn't aware of how close we were to the holes, until I felt John's hand on the back of my neck, pushing me into a crouching position as we ran.

There was the sound of some kind of… Oh, I don't know how to explain it. A twang, maybe? And I glanced over my shoulder and saw an arrow with a strange liquid on it, stuck out of the opposite wall. This all happened less than a minute after he pulled my head down.

_See? Timing._

As we ran up the stairs at the end of the hall, and emerged by Ronon and Teyla, I pulled away and glared evilly at John. "What the _hell_ happened to one and two??"

He shrugged and raised an eyebrow, before his expression turned fully serious. "Elizabeth, are you ok?"

I paused and pursed my lips, waving a little at Ronon and Teyla before starting to walk with them. "Well, I don't have any holes in me, or arrows sticking out from anywhere." Leaving it at that, I shrugged and walked on.

John nodded and grinned a little. "That 'perfect' timing of mine, again?"

I stopped and looked over my shoulder. "_Perfect'?_ I never said your timing was _perfect_." Raising an eyebrow, I shook my head with a mock sigh. As I turned away, I allowed myself a small smile, and winked at Teyla, who was grinning at me.

_Perfect timing? No, but he did have pretty good timing._

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	29. Lazy

**Charlie Blue** - Well the banter is one of my favorite parts, which is why I like to put a play on it. LOL

**Erin87** - That's John for you. He can't be the hero if he shows up too late all the time. I can just see it, too. "Elizabeth! I'm here to save-crap!" (sees the burned body on the ground and slowly backs away)

**NotAllWhoWanderAreAimless** - I'm very glad you enjoyed it, and you're very welcome. And like I stated in the PM I sent you, it all depends on the circumstances, whether or not there will be consequences to the kisses.

**Rinoax** - No, it wouldn't be the same if he saved EVERYONE, ALL the time. Then Aiden would still be there, and that might screw up Ronon's appearance. Elizabeth and Carson would never die (you'd get no complaints from me if it went that way, and they stayed). Thank you :) I am going to post the first chapter and see what people think.

Glad you're enjoying these. I've got about half a dozen chapters left to go, before (as far as I know) I'm done. Suggestions are always welcome.

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_John. Was. Lazy._

Not in a bad way, of course. I mean, he certainly took his time doing things, and when it came to reports, he rarely put much thought into it at all, but where it counted, he did his part.

After Rodney misinterpreted what a lab was made for, and accidentally blew it up, with John's help, of course, I'd ordered them to clean it up.

Them.

_John's lazy._

The two of them.

_Rodney's argumentative._

Alone.

_This. Will. _Not._ Work!_

I knew Rodney would get all indignant, and John's actually serious glare wasn't really a surprise, but it was my duty as base commander to dish out disciplinary measures, and I didn't think a slap on the wrist and a 'Don't do it next time' would work with them.

Yeah, I knew it wasn't the best idea. I mean, I always knew John was lazy, and with the volatile banter-a-thon between them, I figured they might not get much done. I'd actually considered sending Teyla and Ronon down, just because I knew they'd blame the two of them for getting involved, and motivate them to clean faster. I only opted out of it, because I didn't think it was fair to Ronon and Teyla to have to clean up the mess John and Rodney had made.

Maybe I should have reconsidered.

_John's lazy, but not just regular lazy. He's got the contagious kind._

I knew what I should have expected. I knew that John wouldn't help and Rodney would be left to clean alone, or Rodney would start something with John and they'd be fighting for this whole time, or _something_.

So... Why was I surprised to see the room had barely been touched since two hours ago, when I'd ordered them to clean up the room?

"What the hell is going on?!" I demanded, finding John in his t-shirt, arm wrestling Rodney, who was glaring at the Colonel with an almost haughty look.

"You'll never beat-oh! Elizabeth!" Pulling away, still not letting John win, Rodney stood up. Suddenly, a look of realization dawned on his face and he looked around the room, his jaw dropping. "Oh, um we didn't get much work done."

I folded my arms across my chest and nodded with narrowed eyes. "I can see that. Mind telling me why?"

Despite his earlier glare, John actually had the sense to look sheepish. "Well, we kind of got into an..."

_Argument?_

"Debate." Rodney supplied for him. "About the mess, where to start, and who should start with what."

"Really? And a debate ended up with you two arm wrestling, because...?"

"Well, we were testing to see who was really stronger." John put in helpfully, looking around before making a show of picking up a few pieces of glass and dropping them in a pail. "It kinda got outta hand." He picked up a few more and placed them in the pail, too, before standing up and grinning a little.

Rodney nodded and moved to right a small, overturned console. "Right. He's-He's absolutely right." He used the broom to sweep the area a little.

Getting an idea, I pursed my lips before shrugging and shaking my head. "Seeing as how there's a meeting in less than four hours for your next mission, and this room has to be done by then..." I took a second to enjoy their incredulous expressions.

They thought I was going to make the two of them clean up that room as fast as humanly possible, and part of me wondered if ordering them to do it, and staying here to keep an eye on it would work.

Then I decided better of it.

_Like I said, John had the contagious kind of lazy._

"I'm going to call Teyla and Ronon, and you two can explain why they're helping to clean up your mess." I stated lightly, looking by John's foot. "Oh, and you missed a spot." Turning, I walked out of the room, ignoring Rodney's comment about how dead they were, and John's promises to get the work done, if I didn't call them. Tapping my ear piece, I spoke loudly, calling Teyla and Ronon to help them.

I knew Teyla and Ronon seriously wouldn't mind. They'd actually already offered, I just wanted to make the boys sweat. And with the grin I saw on Ronon's face as the last two members of Team Sheppard walked past, I knew he was on the same page as me.

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Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	30. Kind

**Rinoax** - LOL, Nah, I think that would be more John's fear. He hates bugs. I can more see John sliding practically bonelessly off the couch and draging himself across the floor, in one of his lazy fits. LOL

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Well, I think that's because a lot of people don't want to see him come too late to save the people, and so he's made the 'just-in-the-nick-of-time' hero. LOL. Hm, I didn't think about more commentary.

**NotAllWhoWanderAreAimless** - Oh, I don't know. It could have been worse, I'm sure. I wouldn't go so far as to say she's the devil, but I could say she's not necessarily being fair. :P LOL.

**Charlie Blue** - Yes, yes, yes! That's it's exactly, a lazy attitude through and through. Just his aura tells you he's a lazy...bum. LOL. Well, I knew Teyla really wouldn't go after them, but Ronon might, even as a kind of joke on his part. It seemed perfect for the part. LOL.

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"You are very kind." The elder woman nodded at John before performing the Athosian bow of respect, her forehead against his. "Thank you.

John had helped her recover her lost family during a Wraith culling. She was lucky they were still alive, and John being John, he had to try and save them.

When he came to me, I wanted to say no. I wanted to order him to his room and put him under lock down, it was that dangerous. I mean, he was planning to infiltrate a Wraith Hive and steal back a bunch of people who were kidnapped! It was practically suicide!

But...I didn't. I knew that even if I did, John would find a way, any way, to get out there and help those people. It was just his nature. John was a very kind individual.

_Teyla was one of the first ones to say it._

"You are very kind, Colonel."

_Even Rodney's noticed it._

"Oh, how... That's-That's very kind...of you...?"

No matter who it was, John would always go out of his way to help someone, even if it was someone he considered a huge pain in the ass. Like that guy, what was his name? Lucien? Luceous? Something like that, the guy who came to Atlantis with that weird herb that made him irresistible to everyone, and then later popped up with an ancient shield device, claiming to be invincible.

"I'm invincible! See? I can't be vinced!"

John wanted to shoot the guy, and I knew it. Hell, we _all_ wanted to shoot the guy! But...in the end, John put his feelings aside to help him out, save his life.

"You're so kind!"

In the end, it's the way John's always been. Saving everyone and anyone he could, and if he couldn't, taking it personally, like it was all his fault and his fault alone. Like when the Wraith Queen fed upon Colonel Sumner. He shot him to save him the agony of the Wraith stealing what was left of his life. Aiden? He got too much Wraith Enzyme in him, and changed, becoming....different.

He wasn't an enemy, but not exactly a friend anymore, either.

John took those losses personally. The same when Ronon had been captured again by the Wraith, and remade into a runner. You should have seen the obvious relief when they managed to get him back!

_His kind nature is always torturing him._

Especially out here on Atlantis, when everything you looked at was another possible threat.

"That was very kind of you, John." Teyla stated with a warm smile, bowing her forehead against his. "Elya is very happy to have her family back again."

"I'm just glad to help." He muttered with an embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"She's right." Now it was my turn. Walking over to John, I finished the last of the water in the bottle I was carrying, and replaced it in my small backpack. "You disobeyed orders..." I let that draw out, giving him a stern look and watching him as he winced. Then I let up on him. "But that was very brave. I'm proud of you, Colonel." Turning away, I walked over to a couple other Athosian he'd managed to save and helped them pack up some supplies.

After a little bit, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to find John looking at me through soft eyes. "You've been working pretty hard."

I nodded and reached for my backpack, for my water bottle, and instantly remembered it was empty. "I'm just trying to help." I stated, lowering my hands again and looking around.

"Here."

Turning back to John in confusion, I watched as he held out an obviously chilled bottle of water before pointing in another direction. "Rodney and Ronon brought back a cooler of drinks for everyone."

I nodded again, noticing the second bottle in his pointing hand and felt my face heat up, realizing he'd gotten that bottle just for me. Taking it with a quiet 'Thank you', I opened it and took a big sip, sighing in relief as the cool water rushed down my throat. Grinning at John, I tried to ignore his intense gaze. "You are too kind, sir."

Rolling his eyes, John shook his head and laughed a little as we went to help the last of the Athosians pack up the rest of their stuff, to get them set up at the new settlement.

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Hope you like it.

R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi


	31. Thoughtful

**Legend**

_**Written language**_

**Rinoax** - LOL, yeah, I was trying to go for helpful to anyone he can help. Oh god, don't remind me about Lucious. He was such an idiot! :S

**Charlie Blue** - His kindess can be a curse in many ways. One is that it puts him in danger, when he's always trying to help and save people. Two, it can lead to him being betrayed easier, and it would hurt him worse. Three, if one he cares about gets hurt, or he fails to save someone, it's more painful to him. I think they both brush it off because it's embarrassment for them both, and it's who they both are. That might be why they get along so well.

**Erin87** - He looks like quite the bad boy, can be a smartass, but is really quite nice. LOL He's one big contradiction.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - They're not _all_ about physical qualities. I mean sure, John's a god, but he's got a wonderful personality, too. LOL.

Oh, before I forget, that story I was mentioning before is being posted. I'm up to updating the third chapter this week, and it's called Spirit Reaper if anyone wants to check it out.

This was inspired by the wisdom teeth removal I went through on November 10, 2008. And um, I have about 3 chapters left after this one. So any suggestions are welcome, and I'll see what I can do.

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_Oh. My. God. I hurt_.

Wincing, I put my head down on the desk, careful of my cheeks, and groaned a little as I mentally begged the Tylenol 3's to kick in. My head was pounding, I now literally knew what it felt like for a chipmunk, to stuff a lot in its cheeks, and I was a little dizzy.

_Ow. Ow. Ow._

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and held it before raising my head, and letting it out with a whoosh. My eyes were a little blurry, but blinking a couple of times, they cleared up to find John's somewhat amused face staring at me from the door to my room, which I hadn't even heard opening.

"Practicing to be a chipmunk?" He stated with a grin, his eyes staring fixatedly on my puffed up cheeks.

Narrowing my eyes dangerously at him, I leaned over and grabbed a computer tablet, turning it to the already open document and typing in large, bold letters. When I was done and suitably pleased, I turned the board towards him and watched as he sauntered in, absently swiping his hand over the control crystals to close my door.

_**No jokes, or you'll regret it. Seriously. I know a thousand places to hide a body in Atlantis!**_

He chuckled a little and raised his hands in defeat before helping himself to the edge of my bed. "Ok, ok. Sorry. Seriously, though, what happened?" His amused look faded and a concerned one took it's place. "Have you seen Carson?"

Shaking my head, I sighed and pointedly shook my head no at him.

He frowned and his eyes went to my cheeks. Before I even had time to register what he was doing, he was very gently running his hands over my cheeks and his eyes narrowed dangerously. His touches were feather light and despite how tender my cheeks were, they actually didn't hurt. "Did someone do this to you?"

I could hear the concern and anger in his voice and was unable to fight back the grin, groaning in pain and clutching my cheeks as it pulled at the stitches and felt beyond uncomfortable. It wasn't a sharp pain, but a dull ache lanced through my head. _Oh, god! Don't make me laugh! Or smile!_ I thought as tears came to my eyes.

John jumped up, an alarmed look on his face. "Elizabeth?!" he carefully took my shoulders and called my named loudly, a few times.

_Not so…._ I slapped a hand over his mouth, effectively cutting off his shouting. _Not so loud!_ Grabbing my computer, I erased the previous text and typed again. It took me a moment, as I was beginning to feel drowsy, not to mention, my eyes were still blurred with tears.

_**Not so loud, John! If you must know, yes someone did do this to me.**_

I watched as his eyes narrowed even more dangerously, and tapped on the screen to keep his attention on the rest of the text, before he got the wrong idea and went on a killing spree.

_**My dentist.**_

He paused and I watched him mouth the words to himself, a look of confusion coming over his face. Taking the computer, I erased the text again and typed again, turning it to show him the new message.

And yes, I could have talked, but I was advised against it, as it would only put me in even more pain and pull at my stitches.

_**Wisdom teeth removal. Got all for out.**_

He nodded as a look of realization came over his face. "You misspelled 'four'."

Glaring at him, I looked to the table and erased the text before slapping at his arm as he chuckled a little.

_**Sue me!**_

He laughed out right and I grinned, wincing and hissing as it pulled at my stitches again. I grabbed my face, not so much because it hurt, but it felt pretty damn odd and just not comfortable.

"Elizabeth?" His voice was quieter now and he very gently took my face in his hands, careful to avoid my puffed up cheeks. "Damn! Sorry. I didn't mean to make you laugh." he winced as he looked at me, his eyes filled with concern. "What're they giving you for pain killers?"

I turned and hesitantly pulled away from his grasp to grab the bottle, before tossing it to him.

"Tylenol 3's?! Oh come on, they could've done better than that!" He frowned and looked at me. "How long ago did you take one?"

Raising my eyebrow at his tone, I held up one finger.

"One hour?" At my nod, his frown remained. "How long ago did you get the surgery?"

I raised the other eyebrow as I'd only been to earth for the last two days. Grabbing the computer, I typed my answer on it and swiveled it for him to see.

"_Yesterday_?!" His tone was incredulous and he winced when I covered my ears and glared at him. "Sorry! Sorry!" He stood up and looked around the room before turning back to me. "And they put you back on duty so soon??"

I typed my answer and showed it to him.

_**The Wraith aren't gonna wait for me to get better, John, and I do have reports to finish.**_

He stared at the screen seemingly deep in though. His eyes turned distracted a moment before he shook his head. "No, not this time." Taking the computer from me, he put it on my bed side and reached out again, sliding one hand against my lower back and the other under my legs.

"John!" I protested out loud, wincing as it once again pulled at my stitches.

He carried me to and laid me out on my bed before grabbing a blanket and pulling it over me. "I might not be able to order you, but I'm sure I can get Carson to back me up on this. Elizabeth, you're officially off duty for the rest of the week."

I frowned at him and sat up, ignoring the way my vision swam. The rest of the week? That was five more days! I opened my mouth, and closed it again as he gave me his own glare.

"No. That's an order, and if I have to, I'll make it a medical order from Carson himself." His eyes softened and he brushed a lock of hair out of my face. "I had my wisdom teeth out as a kid, and trust me, it's no walk in the park, ok?" Getting up, he turned and walked to the door before turning back. He eyed my room and his eyes landed on a big comfy chair I had. Pursing his lips in thought, he walked over to my bed again and grabbed the computer tablet, opening a new page and typing on it for a few moments before walking over to the chair with it. Sitting down, he typed some more, before glancing up at me. "I'm emailing Carson about what's going on, and I'm gonna stay with you. Get some rest, I'll wake you up in a few hours to take your antibiotics and Tylenol, ok?"

Funny how it only just hit me he didn't have his ear piece in. I stared at him a moment, really touched by his thoughtfulness. Nodding a little, I managed a very small smile that didn't pull at my stitches, and laid back, covering myself with the blanket and closing my eyes. "Thank you, John." I whispered, not really sure if he heard me. Once I relaxed completely, I was out like a light and slept surprisingly well, knowing he was there to look out for me.

_It always served to surprise me just how thoughtful John could be._

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Hope you like it.

Written November 11, 2008

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	32. Fighter

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - As a sparky fan, I thought I'd let you know I edited this chapter for a kiss. LOL. I'm glad you're enjoying this.

**Rinoax **- Hm, I don't know. Pain for two weeks from having wisdom teeth removed, or possibly dying from being fed on. That's debatable. LOL. Yes, John was there to save her, as usual.

Only 3 more chapters finished. Then I'll probably change the story to 'complete', but if I think up any more ideas, I'll still post them. Thank you all for sticking with me this long. :)

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There are many things to admire about John. Some people admired his sense of humor. Some, his kindness. Others admired his physical strength, in the training room. Then there were the ones that admired his smile, his eyes, his hair…

I've even heard a group of female marines talking about one of his other 'great assets'. They were staring at him as he walked _out_ of the room. I wondered briefly if they'd enjoy the view so much if I gave them mop up duty of the latrines for a week.

Me, I admired his strength of will, myself. The fact that he's a constant fighter. He never just gave in.

Here I am, sitting on my bed and writing in my diary, recalling an incident that took place, as Kolya's men ambushed us in Atlantis, right before a severe storm. It was cold, wet, I was stressed, and the situation was grim.

_Kolya'd managed to capture me and Rodney._

And Rodney had panicked as usual. We were lucky they didn't shoot us, really. I think part of me is still trying to figure out why they _didn't_.

Either way, John was out in the newly evacuated Atlantis, somewhere, trying to sabotage Kolya's men and keep us safe. It was more than a little nerve wracking when I couldn't figure out where he was. I could hear him talking over the loud rain at one point, and I guessed he was outside, seeing as how we were in the dry control room.

Do you know how worried I was, knowing he was outside with Kolya's men wandering around all over the place, and a storm that could be potentially deadly on it's way?

He never once gave in. He told me later about how Kolya had told him I was dead, and how worried he was for me when Kolya almost dragged me through the gate. I think I could pretty much call us even, at that point, since not knowing where he was or if he was alright for so long, had been pretty scary for me.

"How did you do it?"

Even repeating the question to myself now, I couldn't get the answering grin out of my mind. It was shaky, but at the same time just asking me not to press it. Then he said, "I couldn't give up." There was so much in that tone that I couldn't recognize or understand at the time.

Let's not forget how Kolya took him prisoner, too. Captured him and wanted to 'trade' him for Ladon. So many thoughts had passed through my mind. I wanted to trade, to have my John back…

_My_ John…?

But then part of me wanted to blurt out, "You're insane, right?" Either way I didn't trade, and I thought the worst they'd do is keep John as a bargaining chip, but no…

He insisted no. He gave me a look that showed how certain he was of this and shook his head slowly. Then they brought out a Wraith. A _starving_ Wraith. His eyes had widened when he realized what they planned to do, but he still insisted no.

So Kolya sat back and made us watch as the Wraith fed on him. It wasn't much, and John was gagged so that kept the noise to a minimum, but I could still hear and feel the anguish in his cries. It was over quickly, but it felt like forever. John's eyes showed just how weak he was, and the pain he was in, and I could clearly see the difference in his age.

And he still insisted no. Don't trade Ladon.

He still fought.

It happened more than once. They'd call in, bring out the Wraith, let it feed, then stop it and end the call. Each time, I saw Kolya's amusement grow at our despair, and every time I turned to my guys wanting to _beg_ them to hurry up and find John. And every time, they had nothing. By the time they finally had something, John's hair was grey and his face horribly pale and wrinkled. One more feeding, and he'd die.

But Kolya didn't call.

I'd sent out the rest of John's team, along with an extra group of marines, and I waited for Kolya's call anxiously, scared because I knew it meant the final feeding, yet hopeful because it would mean John was still alive and there was still time. But Kolya didn't call. I didn't know how to feel as I waited at the screen, my arms folded over my chest.

"Chuck? Why haven't they called?"

Why did I think he'd know?

My heart pounded as I stalked back and forth, waiting for that fateful call, but it never came. Then the gate dialed. It was our rescue team confirming they'd found Colonel Sheppard and he was with them.

Then I heard his voice.

"I'm ok, really."

It didn't sound raspy or tired, like I'd expected, but like the John I knew. Ordering clearance for them to land, I turned and left the control room, making my way to the jumper bay where I knew Carson was waiting for a medical emergency. Hell, I didn't know what to expect when I got out there, but a medical emergency was definitely part of it.

Imagine my surprise when John sauntered out of the back of the jumper as big as he pleased, looking only slightly worse for wear than he did before leaving, and hopped up on the gurney with no effort.

"John…?"

He looked at me in surprise before shooting me a sheepish grin and waving.

_So here I am, torn between smacking him on the back of the head and admiring his will to fight, no matter what this galaxy throws at him._

I finished writing in my diary and sighed before closing it. "I guess I should admire him." He saved Ladon's life, and still managed to thwart Kolya. Not to mention, we had a tentative new Wraith ally. "He never gave up." Getting up, I sighed and walked out of my room, still dressed in my uniform as I walked down the hall. I quietly greeted members of the night watch as I rounded the corner and made my way to the transporter. Then I stopped as the sound of grunting from the training room caught my attention.

"Come on, you can do better than that!"

That was Ronon, and I frowned as I turned and walked to the door, swiping my hand over the control to open it and leaning against the frame when I saw sweat covered Ronon and John sparring in the room.

"Hey, I had kind of a big day, you know." John shot back as he ducked under Ronon's swing. He turned and swung back, and I sighed loudly as Ronon grabbed his arms.

"Yeah, I can imagine. What with being captured by Kolya, fed on my a Wraith, reverse fed on by a Wraith, and _ordered to bed rest for the rest of the night._" I let my eyebrow slide up as John very slowly turned to look over his shoulder. "Busted!"

He opened and closed his mouth quietly, looking for all the world like a fish out of water. Ronon seemed torn between wincing and grinning, and he settled for letting John go, cuffing him on the shoulder, grabbing his things and nodding to me as he walked past.

"So…? What're you waiting for?" I let my other eyebrow slide up as I gestured to his things with my arm, doing my best to ignore how sweaty and good he looked. It was still a bit of a shock that the Wraith hadn't drained all of his life.

He walked over slowly and grabbed his things, still giving me a sheepish look as he walked over to me. "I couldn't sleep." His face turned serious and he shuddered a little as he took a long drink from his water bottle. "I needed to work off some stress."

Nodding a little, I walked beside him as we made our way to the transporter. "I was on the way to the lunch room for a piece of cake, myself."

Looking to me a moment, John nodded and looked forward, swiping his hand over the control to the transporter and waiting for me to step in. "Mind if I join you, or should I go back to my room-"

"John." Interrupting him, I hit the button that sent the transporter to the hall leading to the lunch room. When it stopped, I turned to him and allowed myself a moment to really take in his appearance. One, maybe two extra gray hairs, though I couldn't see any, but he basically looked the same. Shaking my head, I walked forward and gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before stepping back and stepping out of the transporter, glad the hall was empty. "Are you coming or not?" I called slightly as I began walking down the hall.

"Elizabeth…?" He looked at me a long moment before a look of understanding crossed his face. "I'm alright, you know." He walked forward and leaned over me. Very carefully, he leaned even closer and pressed his lips to mine in a chaste kiss. When he pulled away, he had a very tiny half smile on his face. "Really, I promise."

"I know." I felt my face heating up as we walked to the lunch room. "It would take a lot more than…_that_ to stop you. You're a fighter."

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Hope you like it

Written November 14, 2008

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	33. Cocky

**Oursonguimauve/NotAllWhoWander **- Thank you very much. :) I love getting into the heads of characters and while some are easy enough to do, others can be quite difficult. I'm glad you enjoy this so far. :) Well I've watched numerous Stargate Atlantis**-**related things on youtube, along with interviews with Joe Flanigan and Torri Higginson, so that probably helped. Actually, I can't watch SGA anymore, because it's not on here, and I don't have cable to watch the reruns. I watch the most recent season 5 episodes on youtube, so... But I do have to agree, by far I was quite impressed with Torri Higginson as Elizabeth Weir.

Well, currently, my muse is on Twilight, but I am still trying to finish up some of my Atlantis fictions. I'm almost done this one, as far as I know, but I aim to keep an eye out for any more ideas on what I can do.

**Charlie Blue** - Yes, John seems like the type to be observant and wary. He takes his time to watch for any suspicious things, but when it comes to pretty females, I _have_ noticed he's a little more easily trusting, hmm? I can totally see John opening up more to Elizabeth than anyone else, they have a lot in common and they're there for each other. The only reason I didn't like Common Ground was because I wanted to hit Ladon for not offering himself up (or did he, I don't remember?), I wanted to hit Kolya for kidnapping John and torturing him, and I wanted to hit half of the Control Room staff for not doing a better job finding him.

John pulling an Elizabeth? I an see that scene going similar both ways.

**Erin87** - Thank you :) Well, I'm trying to find as many angles as I can to write about.

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - I do like the saucy attitude, so whenever it hits me, I try to play up on it. LOL. Well, I was reading over it quickly and the muse hit me, so...

**Fifitrixiebelle** - Oh I'm glad you enjoyed it. :) I never really put much thought into what episode I was writing for (if it was a tag of any sort to an existing episode), just the moments with John and Elizabeth.

**Rinoax** - The thing with Common Ground showed they were more than just military soldier and civilian leader. They cared for each other, and their priorities were kept straight. I loved the passion she showed when trying to get the others to locate John quicker.

Ok, so far two chapters left and I'll be switching the story to 'complete'. That doesn't mean it's the end, but as far as I know, until my muse comes back, that's all I've got. I've got about a dozen _possible_ ideas for more chapters, but I need the focus and muse to work on it and my mind's solely on Edward Cullen of Twilight. *sighs*

I don't know how to spell the Terranin's name, so... O.o Correct me if I'm wrong? Also, has anyone seen the episode 'Vegas' for season 5? Is it me or does it look like John dies in the end? I'm not sure, but I didn't care for the ending. :S

If I make any spelling mistakes, sorry, I tend to write a lot on computers with really crappy spelling checks. Some go by American spell checks and some by Canadian, so....

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John can be really cocky, you know? When he first came to Atlantis, he was a little more calm and quiet, but that was probably from the overwhelming burst of information and the sudden change in his job description. One minute he's a pilot, and the next he's finding out he's got a mutant gene that allowed him to control alien technology, and he's learning about the Stargate program and it's being insisted that he participates in the Atlantis expedition. Then again, it probably didn't help that Sumner was making it clear he didn't want Sheppard there, and Bates wasn't all that friendly, either.

But the more time he spent on Atlantis and got used to the whole thing, the cockier he got. He began to get confident, don't get me wrong, but it turned into a full blown cockiness that I was beginning to find a little irritating. Once, he disobeyed my orders… Oh, who am I kidding, I've lost count of the times he's disobeyed my orders, but that time in particular, he exposed a lot of innocent people to a severe alien sickness, because of it.

Just because what…? He was trying to protect me…?

_I guess that was kind of sweet..._

I was a little touched, but more than that, I was irritated that he so blatantly ignored my direct orders. I think…maybe I was a little too harsh on him, looking back, but I can't regret my words because somehow I knew they were right, even if I could understand his reasons.

Things weren't too bad, really, until the first major Wraith attack, and loosing Aiden Ford during it. Maybe John blamed himself more than anything, but he started acting a little more recklessly. When asked, he always said "We don't leave our people behind", but I think it was more of his way of saying "I can't loose another person". He started acting out more on his own, trying to single-handedly take on our enemies. He ran what seemed like suicide missions just to save our people, when I would have said no.

Was I wrong on those respects? He always did manage to save a majority of them, in the end. If we hadn't tried…

_But I could have lost him._

It was a little overwhelming at times. I didn't know if John was suicidal, schizophrenic, or heroic. Hearing others talk, you'd think heroic, but it's beyond scary when he doesn't show up with the rest of the team. That, or he's 'been captured', 'gone mysteriously missing', or been 'injured'.

This time it was the Terranins. He wanted to save as many as he possible could from the volcano threatening to decimate their world. I figured once we'd convinced their leader to cooperate, it was all a matter of getting everyone through the gate as fast as we possibly could. Instead, only about half the first group got through before the ground below the gate collapsed and buried it in magma.

Do you know how difficult it was to think straight, realizing John was trapped on a world that seemed about ready to self-destruct, and to listen to their leader complaining that we'd done this on purpose, just to get at their ancient ship?

_Stupid Terranin leader! Stupid volcano! Stupid John!_

_...Ok, maybe not stupid John..._

My mind ran through all kinds of scenarios. The planet had exploded and everyone was dead. Something, obviously, happened to the gate, and they were trapped. Maybe they were still alive, but how long before the air turned toxic, or the volcano exploded, and what if people were trapped outside? What if John was injured, or trapped?!

"Ma'am?"

Turning, I found Chuck standing in my office doorway. Nodding to him, I sighed internally as he handed me a small data pad. Frowning, I read over it's contents and closed my eyes, reaching up to my forehead to try and massage away the growing headache. "Still just the one…?"

Chuck nodded worriedly. "The leader of the Terranins is looking after his people, and he sends up an apology." Chuck's face morphed into one of confusion, showing he didn't understand what there was to be sorry about. "Dr. Zelenka is still running scans, and it's just showing the one ship heading in our direction."

I nodded to him and he nodded back before leaving. Turning back to my window, I stared down at the hundreds of gathered Terranins who were yet waiting to be placed in quarters until we could get more of their people back.

_All of this, and on top of it all, a Wraith ship is on it's way…?_

Colonel Caldwell had reported waiting for any signs of Colonel Sheppard, but other than Teyla and Ronon and a small handful of Terranins, there were no life signs for him to lock on to and evacuate. He was obviously steamed, to put it nicely, and I could understand. John was alive, but he was risking everyone's lives on getting a ten thousand year old Ancient ship to work.

What if it didn't? What if his cockiness was going to end up causing him his life this time, and the lives of thousands of people, too?

_No…_ Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and took a moment to gather control of myself before turning and walking slowly to the door of my office. _John might be cocky, and it can be scary at times, but more often than not he's been right._ He believed Rodney McKay could get the ship flying. It wasn't just John I was beginning to doubt, but Rodney, too. The two of them together, I had to believe they could pull this off.

After all, wasn't it John who once said Rodney worked best under the threat of impending death?

Putting the pad on my desk on the way by, I went to the control room to see Radek staring intently at a screen. Chuck was talking on his headset and nodding, and a few straggling Terranins were looking around in fear and confusion. I knew that a lot of them still had family back on Terranus, and they were worried for them, but at the moment, I was too worried about my own people to even think of words of encouragement. Instead, I walked over to them and took one woman's shoulder, giving it a bit of a squeeze and smiling as encouragingly as I could.

She gave a small, tremulous smile in return and nodded.

"Elizabeth…?"

Hearing that familiar voice, I felt my eyes widen and spun to see Chuck and Radek both looking at me with something akin to worried astonishment…if that made any sense. I hesitated a moment, and then moved as if I was on autopilot, tapping my ear piece. "John…? Is that…. Is that you?" _Oh god, please say it is!_

I could hear his sigh on the other end and a small chuckle. "Yep, the one and only. We're entering orbit around Atlantis now, the Daedalus and Orion."

"Orion…" Oh, right… "The Ancient ship? You got it flying?" Why did I ever doubt them.

Rodney's voice came over, sounding irritated at best. "_I_ got it flying, albeit barely. We're low on energy, but through one of my ever genius plans, we managed to get off Terranus before it exploded."

I hesitated a moment, torn between scolding John for scaring the hell out of me, and just being plain old thankful to have him back. I kind of settled for being thankful now and scolding him later. "And the Terranins?" I was aware of eyes on me and turned to find the Terranin leader staring at me hopefully.

"We got all but a dozen from a separate village." John sighed. "They didn't trust us and chose to leave and make their way to the river's edge. Colonel Caldwell informed me he didn't pick up their life signs upon reentering Terranus' orbit."

Frowning for a moment, I mourned the lives lost and quietly sighed to myself. Then I plastered a small smile on my face for the Terranin leader, who's own face broke out into a broad smile. "I'm glad you're alright." I let slip before blinking, feeling my feat heat up and adding, "All of you."

There was another chuckle on John's end. "Aww come on, you never really doubted us for a second, did you?"

"John." I let the warning slip into my voice, really _not_ feeling like playing around right now. I saw Radek moving in the corner of my eye and looked to see him waving at me and nodding as he pointed to the screen. Walking over, I saw the two ships in orbit and let out a silent sigh of relief.

John was silent for a moment, and I wondered what was coursing through his mind. "Elizabeth…" There was a sigh when he said my name. I heard movement on his end and words being spoken in the background, though I could make them out. "We're alright." He added in a strangely soothing voice. Then he spoke louder and with more purpose. "And we're ready to find a place to land this bird."

I tried to remain serious but hearing the cheerfulness in his voice, I couldn't fight the small smile. "Alright, you have a go. And John…? Welcome back."

Cocky or not, he really could be quite the hero, sometimes.

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Written November 11, 2008

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	34. Suicidal Tendencies

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - True, but John's cocky. He _can_ be quite over confident at times.

**Jevans47403** - Actually, even as a bug-human hybrid, he's still got gorgeous eyes. Trust me, I know. LOL I can't believe they ended the series early, but it's been a wonderful series, so... And you're right, there's always reruns and DVDs.

Daniel? I've noticed Jack gets quite a few girls, too. But then, neither of them is the Kirk of Atlantis, so... John's worse than the others. LOL.

**Rinoax - **I didn't remember the title of the episode, but yeah, that's the one. LOL.

**NotAllWhoWanderAreAimless** - LOL why thank you. This one isn't so warm and fuzzy, just be forewarned.

**Erin87** - Oh, there's conflict. LOL. This one focuses on one of her not-so-favorite parts of John.

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There are a lot of things about John everyone likes, including me. Then there's one thing I'm torn about. He's strong, brave, flirtatious, funny, smart, kind, cute… Ok, so I'm rambling on. The one thing I'm not so sure about are his seemingly suicidal tendencies.

_Suicide bombing the Wraith hive…_

That was just for starters. I can't believe I actually gave the go ahead for that one, what the _hell_ was I thinking?! It scared me more than I cared to admit when I thought he was going to die.

_You would've done the same.._

I can't believe I'm sitting in my office, debating this. No, I wouldn't have done the same, and I should've known I was going to end up mentally kicking myself for it later. And he actually went through with it! Or…he would have, if the Daedalus hadn't shown up and beamed him out of there in time. I don't know who I'm angrier at for that, him, or me.

"And that was only the start…" I mused out loud, to myself, as I tapped my pen on the table, my chin resting in my hand. _He's got a thing for taking on Wraith single-handedly, too._ That wasn't counting the Genii or the replicators.

Going right back to the beginning, there was the Iratus bug, that attached itself to his neck, because he alone was trying to draw the Wraith away from the others so they could make it back to the jumper. He hadn't been watching where he was going, and in the end, they had to stop his heart to get the damned thing off him!

How about when he actually_ joined forces _with a _Wraith_ to get away from the Genii?!

"_That_, I didn't see coming." Putting my pencil down, I sighed and looked down at my desk before looking over to the window and eyeing the top of the gate. "I can't help but wonder what he's going to get himself into, today." They _were_ on a mission, after all, and somehow those always tended to go sour.

Was it a good thing? No, I didn't think so, but then again, it's me. I'd prefer to know he was playing it safe, than being Atlantis' number one dare devil. Some people liked his feats, though, and I heard about how 'cool' and 'heroic' everyone thought he was.

_Remind me to assign anyone who ever says that again to permanent inventory, or clean up._ I thought darkly, as I took a deep breath and stood up, walking to my office window. _The last thing he needs is to get a bigger head than he's already got!_

It was scary. Every time they dialed in with 'we're coming in hot' or 'we've got a medical emergency', the first person I found myself thinking about was John, and usually it came with the thought of 'what's he done now?'. Only about half of those times was it actually John. Either he flirted with the wrong person, took on a Wraith or a dozen single-handedly, or got captured by one of our enemies or another.

I'll never forget when he took on the Genii with most of his life gone, with the help of a Wraith. I didn't know who was crazier, or if I should've scolded him for being so reckless. In the end, however, we did end up with a tentative ally in Todd. Still, every time Kolya called us to demand we hand over Ladon, and make us watch a Wraith feed on John when we refused, I didn't know if I could take it.

John kept telling us not to. He must've been insane! What is it with him? He pulls off the most unimaginable feats, and scares the hell out of me with about half of those, and then goes on like it was just another day to him. I actually think I liked that part. No matter what happened, he didn't overly freak out about it. He always managed to go on, calmly. Or maybe I didn't like that part, because I never knew what to expect. I never knew if he'd be coming home in a body bag next time.

I couldn't fight back the shudder at the thought.

_When he got stuck at the sanctuary, with the people looking to Ascend, and the monster they were all afraid of, that almost killed John….how many times? Just because he was the only one willing to fight against it?_

"Dr. Weir?"

Spinning in surprise, I saw Chuck standing at my door with a frown and his eyes narrowed in worry. Standing beside him was Rodney with a look I'd come to recognize. He looked torn between being annoyed, worried, confused, and so much more.

"He's done it again." That's the name I'd chosen to call that look on Rodney's face, since that's what it usually screamed, without him even having to say a word. "It was a simple reconnaissance mission to an unpopulated world, and he's done it again…?" Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get my pounding heart under control. "What is it this time?"

_The Wraith Queen on the drilling platform under the ocean. Even with her powers, he took her on._

"Apparently a single replicator on the planet surface." Rodney groaned quietly. "That's why they didn't pick up any life signs. It somehow managed to cloak itself." Frowning for a moment, he shrugged a little. "He called us to tell us it managed to capture Ronon and Teyla somehow, and he's going after it."

"What?" Turning fully, I walked over to Rodney. "Is he still at the gate?"

Rodney shook his head, rolling his eyes and his look seemingly settled on annoyance. "No, he's long gone. We've already got Lorne's team and SG-7 waiting in the gate room for your order."

_When he allied himself to Michael. Ok, first when they insisted on _capturing_ Michael, then dealing with him which cost a man his life, then allying himself to Michael to help get the others off the Wraith hive…_

I was half tempted to tell Lorne to shoot John for me, when he found him, but instead, I nodded and followed them out of the room. I went over many things I wanted to say, including ordering them to take me with them, and again, ordering Evan to shoot John when he got to him. I was irritated, but at the same time, I somehow knew this was going to happen. Biting my lip, I walked over to the balcony and looked down to the waiting teams below, their expectant gazes lingering on me.

_Taking on the Genii who'd taken over the control room with a severe storm looming over us, just to get me and Rodney out of there and save Atlantis._

"Bring them all home." I stated quietly, trying to keep my mounting worry to myself. "And if you have to, drag John home by his feet." That earned me a few chuckles, and I raised an eyebrow, showing them just how serious I was. I was getting a little sick of feeling like my heart was going to stop, every time he pulled something like this. He was going to give me a heart attack one of these days, and I fully intended to tell him that when he got back.

Seeing my look, they all settled down and Evan nodded at me with a look that stated he understood how I felt.

_John's gotta be suicidal. That's just the answer. That or he's bloody insane, maybe I need to get Carson to run scans on his head and find out. Or maybe I need to talk to Kate about this. This is ridiculous!_

"Good luck and God speed." I stated, waving to Chuck to dial the gate and standing back as they went through it as soon as it stabilized. _John, if you die, I swear I'm gonna kill you._ Frowning at the gate as it shut down, I dropped the idea of going back to my office, and instead settled on calling Carson and alerting him he might have a medical emergency when the teams got back. Then, I turned to pacing the control room, the only thing on my mind being 'I hope they're alright'.

_I hope _he_ doesn't pull another one of his suicidal ideas._

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I'm trying to go for she cares about him, but is scared and irritated at his insane ideas to go up against enemies alone. She hates the fact that he's almost been killed….how many times now? So not such a touching scene, and no actual interaction between John and Elizabeth. More how she acts and thinks in hearing 'He's done it again'.

Hope you like it.

Written November 8, 2008

This is an idea from **Sparklyshimmer2010**. I don't know if I can do the MENSA bit, since I wouldn't even know how to write about it (I'm not MENSA material)… I guess we'll see. Thank you **Sparklyshimmer2010** for the idea.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


	35. Theories

**Rinoax** - Whenever I see John get into a really awkward/deadly/seemingly impossible situation, I tell myself 'He's the main character, he's not about to die'. Hm, in 'Vegas', I think I might have been wrong. *Is sore about Alt-John seemingly dying in 'Vegas'*. But yeah, he seems unstoppable.

**Jevans47403** - I don't think he was talking to McKay. Remember that at that point, he wasn't aware that his Atlantis team was on the hive. I think he was talking to Sam at SG HQ. McKay catches his words and contacts him, telling him they're on the ship, and he postpones the bombing until McKay rigs up a remote detonator. But yeah, he was fully intending to suicide bomb the Wraith Hive. He's done it before, a couple times, I think.

I know! I watched and when Ronon was stabbed, I was like 'WHAT THE HELL?!?!'. I was _so_ mad, that I thought they were going to kill him off. Then they brought him back, and I was like 'Yeah! You _better_ bring him back to life!'. LOL.

**NotAllWhoWanderAreAimless** - I'm afraid I've never been good at french. What does 'J'ai hate de lire la suite' mean? I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

**Sparklyshimmer2010** - Of course Lorne wouldn't shoot his commanding officer, even under the tempermental orders of his other commanding officer. No, that was just Elizabeth's irritation getting the better of her for a moment. LOL I'm not sure what I can do. Unfortunately, my muse for SGA is all but on the farthest back burners at the moment. I have several chapter ideas put aside for my stories, but my muse has fled in terror, and I no longer have any possible idea what to write for them. I've been trying, but nothing seems to be coming forther. :S

**Erin87** - Thank you :) I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

Ok, so this is the LAST chapter I have done for the story. I will be changing the story status to complete after posting this, and I do NOT know if I will ever be updating it again. I do have very hesitant ideas for POSSIBLE chapters, but it all depends on whether or not I can get a strong enough muse to do anything. I thank you all for sticking with me and being patient. Your comments have been greatly appreciated and helped to keep this story going as long as it could. :)

*Hands out Johns, Ronons, Evans, Eliabeths, Rodneys and Teylas to all her loyal readers and reviewers*

John's Theories on why Atlantis 'really' fell, inspired by a glimpse to a story with a summary that got my attention...

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"I have a theory."

Oh, this was bound to be good. John had some far fetched theories, and they could be pretty amusing, sometimes.

"Really?" Looking up from my works, I struggled not to smile as I raised an eyebrow at him. "Theory about what?"

He'd been leaning against my door, a usual pose he took when he was thinking and waiting for my response. He always did that, standing there patiently until I looked at and addressed him. That was the cue he took, as an invite in, and he slowly stood up, walking in to sit on my desk.

"Well, a few theories, actually. I mean, we all know what supposedly happened, but what if it's all lies?"

Staring at him a moment, I let the other eyebrow raise and crossed my arms over my chest. "Alright…? It might help if I knew what you are talking about, John."

"The real reason Atlantis sank." The expression on his face was priceless. So innocent, as if he'd expected me to know what he was talking about, but with the tiniest hint of mischief in his eyes. "I know they said it was 'cause of the low power and big war and all that, but what if it was something else?"

For a moment, I stared at him silently, wondering how exactly this was going to go. I glanced down for a moment, and saw the reports in front of me, reminding me I had important work to do, and by all means I needed to do it.

Then I glanced up and saw him looking at me with that same damn look, and I felt my resolve fade.

"Ok, so we _know_ it's the war and lack of power, over 10 000 years." I saw his eyebrow raise and tilted my head. "You think it's something else." He nodded and I felt a grin tugging at the corners of my lips.

Suddenly, I glanced behind John and raised an eyebrow as I saw Rodney talking quickly with Teyla. They seemed to be approaching the room, but Rodney glanced up, caught sight of Sheppard, rolled his eyes and shook his head, and turned, leading Teyla down to the gate room and out another hallway.

_Hm, interesting. Something tells me John's already approached him with his theory._

And judging by Rodney's reaction, it was probably a good one.

"Does this have anything to do with how you think some of the Wraith might be like human torches?" I asked, giving up on the fight with my grin. "You remember. How if you stuck a lighter under them, they'd go up? Poof!" I made hand gestures, simulating an explosion.

Grinning, John shrugged. "Nah, no Wraith involved, this time."

"Oh, this I gotta hear, then." Moving my reports to the side, I linked my fingers together and placed my hands on the desk. "Ok, out with it."

Standing up, he clapped his hands together before holding them apart. "…Iceberg."

Blinking at him, I raised an eyebrow, feeling laughter begin to bubble up. "Iceberg?"

He nodded, eyes sparkling. "It got really cold, probably a strong winter, and the city was hit by an iceberg."

Biting my lip, I let my face drop a little before raising it back up, unable to hide my grin. "John, have you been watching movies, lately?"

He nodded again, his lips twisting up at the edges before his face straightened.

"Titanic, by chance?"

John made an interesting face. For a moment, I was drawn to figure out what he was trying to do. It looked like he was going for serious, but had to fight a powerful urge to laugh, and at the same time, he was embarrassed to be caught watching Titanic.

Finally, he nodded, a broad grin on his face. "Yup, Titanic."

"I see." Thinking about it, I had flashes of the city of Atlantis floating along, when BAM! A big iceberg comes along, slams into the side, and the city slowly capsizes. Ancients were running in all directions, taking the jumpers and Aurora class ships to evacuate as the city slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean.

"Think about it. No power means no shields, right? And if it got cold enough, they could get really big icebergs." His eyes were sparkling and the grin on his face was pure mischief, now. There was no hiding now. "And the city sinks."

"There's no giant hole, though." I pointed out. "If an iceberg hit Atlantis, there'd be a big hole." Now I was humoring him, but I couldn't help it. This whole discussion was all too much fun.

"Uh, maybe it's in one of the unexplored sections. Or…" He snapped his fingers. "Maybe the Ancients came back and fixed the hole."

"John!" Now being able to help it, I busted up laughing. "Oh, yes. I can just see it. The Ancients came, fixed the giant hole while Atlantis was at the bottom of the ocean, and then abandoned the city again." Shaking my head, I laughed a little more. "Why didn't I think of that?"

_Didn't I say John had some…entertaining theories?_

Sitting back on my desk, he began to laugh. "Ok, so…a little far fetched?"

"A _little_?? I'd say very far fetched."

"Ok, so then… Gremlins is out?" He asked, an evil grin crossing his face.

Again I laughed, not being able to help it. "John, you really are ridiculous, you know that?"

"Hey! It was just an idea." He had the sense to look sheepish, but it wasn't long before his grin was back. "Anyway, I have reports of my own to do, so I'd better get going." Turning, he waved and walked to the door. "Oh, and Elizabeth?"

Raising an eyebrow at him, I waited patiently.

"It's kinda a funny thought, isn't it? Atlantis version of Titanic."

"You and your theories." I called back slightly, shaking my head at him. "Go. I've got work to do."

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Thinking about it, the Atlantis version of Titanic is kind of funny. LOL

Hope you liked it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi


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